Thank you SOOOOOO much to all the readers and to everyone who left reviews on this story! I love reading all of them! :D (Loved reading you all guessing correctly on who came to help Ed on the roof!)

And, I know people have been asking for Alchemy and I promise Ed will get it back soon! (But not yet...!)

Previously: Tony and Ed fought off Obadiah Stane in his own version of the Iron Man suit.

Outside Stark Industries – Pepper's POV

Pepper's heart was hammering in her chest almost painfully as she stared in shock at the damaged building. The arc reactor… She had overloaded the circuits but… The reactor itself went haywire before she could press the button herself to cause the malfunction.

Tony and Ed had still been on the roof when the reactor… when the reactor exploded…

She… She may have killed them…

Her worry only increased when neither of them answered her calls, her yells, her PLEAS.

If it hadn't been for an agent holding her back, she would have run head first into the building, climbing to the roof to check on them herself.

But no, she needed to stay far away from the smoldering wreckage for her own safety while other agents went in to find Tony and Ed…

They didn't need to look for Obadiah though… She could still clearly see his large suit of armour partially crushing the arc reactor from when he had fallen onto it…

The other two though… They needed to be okay… Pepper had almost lost Tony once before, she didn't want to relive that again. She had spent months hoping he would be found but each day that had passed made it more difficult…

And Ed… Pepper had just wanted to give that teenager a normal life. THIS wasn't it… Fighting for your life WASN'T it…

It felt like an eternity for Pepper as she stared at the entrance of the building, hoping for them to come down, safe, in one piece.

ALIVE.

Please…

Finally – FINALLY! – Pepper caught some movement and people started exiting the building. She bypassed the agent next to her, almost jogging to meet up… up…

Four agents were carrying Tony between them, trying to go as fast but as carefully as they could to…

Pepper hadn't even realized an ambulance had shown up.

But she just stared at Tony, at his unmoving body and dread began to fill her.

"Is he…?" she couldn't even finish the question, not with the worry and guilt building up.

"He's stable," answered Agent Coulson slightly out of breath, making Pepper's focus snap to him and –

"Ed!"

The teenager was leaning heavily on Agent Coulson, wearing the man's suit jacket, its sleeves so long they covered her hands. However, Pepper's focus was on the rest of her…

Ed looked almost as bad, if not worse, than Tony had. The difference though…

Tony's suit had taken most of the damage.

Ed didn't have a suit…

Just the teenager's head, Pepper could see a cut on the forehead, dirt and grime on most of her face and… possibly some bruises forming which added to her overall exhausted look.

Pepper didn't want to know what else lay hidden under the jacket and clothes…How badly she had gotten hurt…

"We're getting them to a hospital, Miss Potts," stated Agent Coulson, readjusting his grip on Ed who was already shaking her head.

"… said 'no'," she mumbled, seeming like she was trying to push herself off of him without any success.

"Maybe you can convince him," added Agent Coulson, sending Pepper a look.

"I doubt I could," she said remembering the very first day she had met Ed and her refusal of going to the hospital then as well. "But they'll ride with me in the ambulance," she added, already reaching out towards Ed. "We'll go with Tony."

The teenager seemed to have been nodding off during the conversation but, the mention of Tony had her eyes snap open briefly and she tried to straighten.

"Yeah, fine," said Ed softly, already stumbling in Pepper's direction, the latter just managing to reach out and wrap her arms around the teenager.

"Agent Coulson, your jacket," said Pepper, letting Ed lean heavily on her.

"I'll get it at the hospital. Have a safe ride," he replied, nodding towards them before walking away.

Pepper watched Agent Coulson for a moment before steering Ed in the direction of the ambulance. The teenager didn't put up a fuss, just hobbling slowly next to Pepper.

What had happened on the roof?

The question played over and over in Pepper's mind as she climbed onto the back of the ambulance, almost dragging Ed up with her.

Pepper made a mental note that she may actually need to convince Ed to let a doctor to at least check her for any severe injuries. She didn't want Ed's stubbornness to get in the way of her being able to recover properly.

She was not looking forward to that future discussion…

However,…

Ed and Tony were alive. They were going to make it through.

That was what was important.

Pepper got Ed to sit next to her and, within a minute, the teenager was leaning heavily against Pepper's side, her head drooping as she was already nodding off.

The older woman just wrapped an arm around Ed and held on tightly.

At the hospital – Several hours later – Pepper's POV

"Here, Pepper."

She looked up to see Rhodey holding up a Styrofoam cup in her direction.

"Hot chocolate," he added with a smile.

She returned the smile. "Thank you," she whispered, taking the cup before readjusting her position in the chair.

Even if it was a comfortable one, she hadn't moved since the doctors had allowed her into Tony's private room several hours ago. They had announced that he was now stable and he had been asleep in bed ever since.

Pepper, however, couldn't seem to be able to get the same rest.

She was glad Rhodey came to keep her company.

"Nothing's changed, I'm guessing," he said as he took a seat next to her. "For both of them?"

Pepper shook her head, her gaze falling to the other armchair in the room where Ed was curled up tightly, fast asleep. Agent Coulson had eventually gotten his jacket back when he had passed by to check on them at the hospital and Ed was now covered in at least two hospital blankets.

The teenager had adamantly refused to be treated and Pepper eventually managed to get Ed to agree to at least let the nurses clean up her cuts. The amount of negotiation Pepper had needed to use had been all she could handle for the night and let the teenager stubbornly flop onto the armchair to rest.

Ed hadn't moved since. The soft rise and fall of the blankets being the only sign she was still alright.

"Pepper, do you know about…?" Rhodey's question faded but, with him staring at Ed, Pepper could get the gist of the question.

"She told you?" she asked back, almost a little surprised by the fact: Ed was overly secretive but… She had slowly been more forthcoming with some information.

Very slowly.

"Ok, I wasn't hallucinating," said Rhodey, making Pepper tilt her head to the side in confusion. "You said 'she'. Honestly, I wasn't 100% sure."

"Ed isn't particular about that," said Pepper. "I don't think she would have been insulted if you had said 'he'."

As had the series of nurses and doctors that had passed by. The constant hesitation between 'he' and 'she' had almost been amusing. At least some didn't even try to resolve that brain teaser and referred to Ed as 'they'.

"Ok, yes,… she told me," said Rhodey. "In the car on the way to S.I. after I guessed her possibly being a descendant of a Howling Commando, grandkid or something, but I'm still not sure if I believe her."

Pepper nodded, realizing that 'grandchild' was indeed a good cover that so Ed didn't need to constantly use her disguise as 'Gracia' to go out in public.

"It had been a hard pill to swallow but… interacting with her for the last few months… her situation made more sense. But, how did you make that connection?" asked Pepper, slightly surprised.

Before seeing the pictures of Ed in 1945, Pepper couldn't remember actually hearing about the teenager. Yes, the Howling Commandos were known but… as a team that helped Captain America.

If you wanted more information on the individual team members, you needed to do research, something Pepper hadn't done. And… Even if you did, what were the chances that someone would connect Ed now to the Edward Elric from 1945?

"Funny enough, it was thanks to Tony," explained Rhodey, pointing to the still sleeping man. "Found out at M.I.T. that he disliked Rogers during a frat party. I did some digging as to why, to try to get an explanation. She had been in a picture with Tony's dad and Rogers. It gave me the answers I needed and I haven't forgotten that picture since. She," he motioned towards Ed, "is a spitting image, save for the longer hair that is."

Pepper studied Ed and couldn't help a small smile from spreading across her face. Rhodey did have a point: Ed hadn't cut her hair since arriving and it was becoming a shaggy mess.

It didn't help that the teenager had a bad habit of messing up her hair as well.

"As long as both of them are alright, I won't be picky on their appearances," chuckled Pepper softly, taking a sip of hot chocolate. "And thank you, Rhodey, for getting to the mansion in time to help."

Rhodey, though, looked sheepish as he focused on Tony. "To be honest, I didn't do much of anything. By the time I got there, Tony's arc reactor had been replaced and the intruders had been taken care of."

Pepper's eyes widened at that news. Arc reactor? Intruders? What…? Well, Obadiah had a reactor to power his suit… Had he…? Had taken TONY'S?! Then what had –?

The old arc reactor! The one she had put in that display case! She was beyond grateful she hadn't listened to Tony and had thrown it out like he had wanted to.

And… The intruders? Had they taken the arc reactor…?

"Do you know what had happened?" asked Pepper softly, still very confused. "Because… All I know was that neither Tony or Ed were answering…"

Rhodey nodded, remembering their conversation when he had been in his car. "Apparently Obadiah had come in and stolen Tony's reactor. He had also let in some thieves to steal all the inventions downstairs."

"Did they?!" gasped Pepper.

Rhodey shook his head. "Only the arc reactor had been taken. From what I gathered, Obadiah and Tony had been upstairs. You can thank her," he motioned towards Ed, "for downstairs. All the bad guys were down and out by the time I got there. She even almost attacked me," he added with a chuckle.

Pepper studied Ed with a new light. Had she believed Ed to be from 1945? Yes. Had she thought Ed could actually FIGHT? It hadn't crossed her mind.

Pepper didn't have a clear idea on what Ed's role had been in the Howling Commandos but, whatever vague idea she had did NOT include Ed PARTICIPATING in the fighting.

"Hard to think, looking at her now," remarked Rhodey as he also studied Ed. "She almost looks harmless."

"Almost?" repeated Pepper.

"Metal arm with those scratches take away from the illusion somewhat."

The prosthetic arm was dangling of the front side of the armchair, the only thing apart from Ed's head that wasn't covered by the blankets. Even though the teenager's overall posture and facial expression was almost… cute, the arm served as a harsh reality check to the adults in the room.

"Will Ed continue to stay at the mansion?" asked Rhodey after several minutes.

"If she wants to," replied Pepper. "I don't think Tony would flat out refuse."

"He'll just complain about it without meaning it," added Rhodey making Pepper nod in agreement. "Well, it won't be boring with the two of them."

"It already isn't. You should see when they argue."

Rhodey chuckled as he shook his head, probably picturing it all too clearly…

Next day, late afternoon – Stark Mansion – Ed's POV

I readjusted the position of my wig as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Thankfully Pepper had helped me with the makeup to cover up most of the bruises and scratches on my face and, with the glasses, you could almost not tell they were there.

Besides, they looked worse than they felt.

I had a hard time explaining that to Pepper though…

Taking a deep breath, I stepped back, grabbing my gloves as I did: I was going to need them once Tony, Pepper and Rhodey were ready to leave.

Apparently, there was going to be a press conference at Stark Industries to discuss what had – or more HADN'T – happened the previous night.

It was going to be interesting to see how they would spin that story…

Just to be safe, they had suggested I disguise myself again to accompany them.

Honestly, I would have liked to just stay at the mansion, lay around and rest but…

Not only was I curious about the press conference, but someone needed to talk to me about something or another.

I wasn't looking forward to that…

"Well, look who it is."

I turned around to see Tony making his way towards me, dressed in a suit save for the jacket that was currently tossed over his shoulder.

"Don't make me charge you for a therapy session," I replied, crossing my arms.

That at least got a smirk out of him, the bandages on his face scrunching at the movement.

Technically… I didn't think either one of us should have been moving around so much but…

We were also NOT going to just sit still either.

"By the way," began Tony, leaning against the couch, "I seem to have this vague recollection of someone, at some point, calling me old."

I didn't answer, shrugging instead because… the circumstances around that name calling hadn't been the best…

"It almost sounded like the person was – dare I say it? – worried?" he added seeming to gage my reaction.

"That's funny coming from the man who yelled out 'Evelyn' almost in the same way," I replied, cocking my head to the side. "Or did my ears deceive me?"

We stared at each other for several heartbeats before… Well, I sighed, my shoulders slumping.

"Whatever had been said, I'm… I'm just glad you're okay," I whispered, staring at the ground.

"I'll blame all this on lapses in judgement," stated Tony evenly.

I scoffed, not exactly surprised by his constant need for snarky comebacks. I said my piece and that was it.

Seeing him walking around was good enough for me: we didn't need to do any of the sentimental parts.

"But," began Tony, his tone having grown softer as he took a step closer, "off the record, I will deny ever saying this if you bring it up and –"

"What is it?" I sighed, raising an eyebrow.

He cleared his throat before spitting it out quickly, "I'm glad you're okay too."

I just smiled.

"Even though I had told you to stay here and then with Pepper and to get off the roof," he added just as quickly, counting each 'thing he had told me' out on his fingers. "You just have horrible listening skills, Short Stuff."

"Must be picking them up from you," I mumbled, rolling my eyes as I tried to cover up my smiling.

"Well, stop it, I'm a horrible role model."

I frowned slightly at those words. They weren't exactly… true. He was a technical genius who wanted to do the right thing. Nothing wrong with that.

Well, save for the going at it alone bit. That could change.

"I –"

"And, considering that," continued Tony, glancing around the room, "I would understand you not wanting to stay here."

What? My eyes widened and I opened my mouth –

"I mean, we could find you your own place but if moving out is too much of a hassle, the room you're in didn't have another use anyway."

Uh… I was trying to follow his line of thinking but it was getting difficult. Did he want me to leave or –?

"And Pepper seems to be getting use to you being here. Not to mention the robots too. You'd have to break the news to them if you leave."

If…?

"But your choice. I'm not making the decision for you. Wherever you want to live, you tell me and…"

He just kept rambling but I ignore it as I bridged the gap between us and…

Hugged him tightly.

"Off the record," I said as Tony stood stunned, frozen on the spot. "I don't think you're a horrible role model. Stubborn, yes. Horrible, far from it."

"And you're a brat," he sighed, somewhat returning the hug, patting me more than holding me.

"I'm staying so you'll have to get used to this brat that –" The rest died in my throat as…

Oh fuck…

"Short Stuff, awkwardly long hug now."

My face was heating up but it WASN'T MY FAULT!

"The arm's LOCKED!" I hissed, unable to unbend my right arm as it held Tony close. "I can't – It won't move!"

Tony choked out a laugh but I did not find this amusing! I just wanted to – Come on! Just… Open! Damn it!

"Am I interrupting?"

Fucking shit…!

"I'm stuck!" I called out before Tony could answer Rhodey with some bizarre or completely false explanation.

I finally stumbled sideways, away and… The arm was just sticking out, bent in front of me! I vaguely heard Rhodey snort, trying to cover a laugh but I just stared at my automail, eyes wide. It had NEVER done this with Winry and Aunt Pinako's version!

"I was still running tests on it," said Tony with an amused grin. "Be happy it didn't lock up last night!"

I stared at him and then the arm. "What am I supposed to do about this now?!"

"I don't think anyone will notice," stated Rhodey between chuckles and turned to him in bewilderment.

Tony motioned for me to come closer and, when I did, he began looking at the arm, pushing my sleeve up as he did.

He even tried to pull on the arm to try to unfold it but it wouldn't budge.

And it only made Rhodey's chuckle turn into full laughter.

I just flipped him off as I kept staring at my arm. This was not a fun situation, one that I didn't want to be in…

"How about…?" Tony mumbled as he tried to move the arm, pushing it instead and –

The arm buckled but it folded towards me, falling and smacking my body.

I eyed my arm, flexing each finger slowly, moving it more and more.

"Ok, seems like it works for now. I'll take a better look when we get back," said Tony, moving towards Rhodey.

"Everyone ready?" called Pepper as she entered the living room.

"Yes, but you missed –"

"She didn't miss anything," I interrupted Rhodey, sending him a glare as I passed him and headed towards the door.

"I'll get JARVIS to send you the video," mock whispered Rhodey and I felt my face heat up in embarrassment, having forgotten about JARVIS being able to see EVERYTHING in the house.

I didn't think I would hear the end of it…

And, considering I agreed to stay at the mansion, I truly wouldn't.

The four of us exited the house, heading to the car Happy was standing next to. Tony, of course, went to the driver's side and Happy glanced towards… Pepper.

She just smiled at him and headed to the back door, Happy opening the door for her.

"Ed, you first," she said and my shoulders sagged, realizing I was going to be in the middle with an all too clear view of Tony's crazy driving.

"Fine," I mumbled, climbing in.

Once everyone was in and I was firmly squished between Pepper and Rhodey, we were off.

"Here, Ed," said Pepper after a moment, holding out… something to me. "For my piece of mind, please keep this with you."

I took the rectangular object and looked it over, rotating it a few times.

The problem was…

"And what exactly is this?" I asked, looking up at her.

"A cell phone. So I can call you in case you break your tablet again," explained Pepper and my eyes widened.

"This…? This is a telephone?"

"Short Stuff, you're telling me you studied dark energy, fiber optics and all those technological advances but you never thought to look up cell phones?" asked Tony, eyeing me from the rear-view mirror.

"I didn't think telephones changed!" I countered. "I thought that the video call thing on the tablet was the improvement not… shrinking it down and making it portable and wireless!"

"No one actually SHRINKS anything technically," said Tony. "They BUILT it smaller. We haven't perfected shrinking rays yet."

"Someone's working on shrinking rays?"

"Don't worry, they won't use it on you. They need something actually big to shrink."

He was DAMN lucky my seat built held me back as I yelled out obscenities at him in German. He still had the audacity to smirk in amusement at me through the mirror.

I just flipped him off.

Rhodey, meanwhile, was leaning against the car door, a smile on his face. "I definitely need to make time to visit more often, the two of you are hilarious together."

"Not always," sighed Pepper, massaging her face.

Stark Industries

I scooted onto the large table, folding a leg in front of me as I watched Pepper use some makeup to cover up Tony's injuries as he read a newspaper with a picture of him on the front. Well, him in his suit with the words 'WHO IS IRON MAN?' written in bold as the headline.

Rhodey, meanwhile, had gone to the next room to talk to the reporters about the 'incident' that happened last night, spewing a story someone had come up with at some point in the last several hours.

That someone probably being from the place where those 'agents' came from…

I hadn't seen most of them again since last night except for the one that was just entering the room, wearing… was that the SAME suit? Hadn't he changed?

"Iron Man, that's kinda catchy," said Tony not even acknowledging the agent. "It's got a nice ring to it. I mean, it's not technically accurate though. The suit's a gold-titanium alloy but it's kind of evaporate, the imagery anyway."

The agent had crossed the room by then as he had glanced in my direction several times, probably trying to piece together who I was. Even though he had been the one to help me off the roof and had somehow known about me, we hadn't exactly told him about the disguise.

He seemed to have stopped trying to figure out who I was as he stopped in front of Tony, holding out pieces of paper over the newspaper, very close to Tony's face. "Here's your alibi."

"Okay," mumbled Tony, folding the newspaper and taking them.

"You were on your yacht," added the agent as Tony began reading through said 'alibi'. "We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night and sworn statements from 50 of your guests."

Tony hummed, not looking too impressed. "You know, I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Pepper and me alone on that island."

I chocked at that idea and Pepper just ripped off a band-aid from Tony's forehead, giving him an unamused look.

"Stick to the story, Stark," stated the agent and Pepper nodded in agreement.

"Fine…"

"Read it, word for word," added the agent, raising an eyebrow.

Tony ignored him, still flipping through the papers. I wasn't exactly sure why though considering there were only three of them… He had shuffled them around enough by now…

"There isn't anything about Stane," stated Tony suddenly with a frown. I blinked, a little surprised but… Well, no one technically knew outside us that it had even been Stane in that other suit. This 'incident' shouldn't have anything to do with that asshole.

"That's being handled," replied the agent without missing a beat. "He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such bad safety records."

My eyes widened, not only that they had made up a story for Stane as well but… Small aircrafts were dangerous?! Had – had Tony's airplane been considered small?! Had we –? What –?

"Now look what you've done… Short Stuff won't ever want to fly again," mumbled Tony, waving a hand in my direction. "You're paying for her therapy bills."

"I… No, absolutely not. What –?"

"And what about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard?" continued Tony, ignoring my sputtering. "I mean… It's kinda flimsy, don't you think? And you're telling me no one saw the metal armed teenager running around the freeway?"

The agent didn't look fazed as he answered, "This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark. Besides, people were a little too engrossed by your shiny suit to notice said teenager. So, just stick to the official statement, and soon, all this will be behind you." He took a look at the television screen that still showed Rhodey speaking to the journalists. "You've got about 2 minutes and I'd like to have a word with Miss Elric."

I cocked my head to the side as he glanced towards me and I was surprised that he would want to talk to… me…

He had recognized me last night and it seemed he finally recognized me in my disguise.

Great… I wondered what he wanted to talk about. Well, apart from the obvious of how I got to 2009 without aging…

The problem was that, unlike Rhodey, nobody could vouch for this agent and how much I could trust him and the organization he worked for.

"Agent Coulson, we –"

"It's fine," I said, cutting off Pepper as I jumped off the table. "I can handle it." I could handle this Agent… Coulson. I just needed to keep reminding myself that.

Pepper eyed me for a moment before she nodded and turned towards the agent. "Just before you go off with Evelyn, I'd like to thank you for all your help the last two days."

He just smiled, nodding to her. "That's what we do. You'll be hearing from us."

Pepper smiled as she began reciting, "From the Strategic Homeland and –"

"Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D.," said Coulson before glancing towards me and motioning for me to follow with a tilt of his head.

I called out, "Have fun," to Tony and Pepper as I walked out of the room behind Agent Coulson.

We walked in silence for several steps before he turned around, stopping in the middle of the hallway and facing me. Once again, I noticed how he seemed to be trying to stop himself from smiling as he stared at me.

And stared.

I cleared my throat, crossing my arms and that seemed to snap him out of it.

"Sorry, still processing that I'm standing in front of Edward Elric," said Coulson as he seemed to try to remain calm.

"How'd you know I was Edward?" I asked.

"I know everything about you," he replied and my eyebrows raised in surprise. "I mean, of you and the rest of the Howling Commando," he added quickly. "And Captain America of course. But, I can't say 'everything', can I? Seeing as you are a woman."

I nodded slowly, not having expected this. The Coulson with Tony was not the same one as with me. Well, to begin with, Coulson seemed… to not hate me. He was happy to see me.

Last time someone I didn't know looked happy to see me was…

In Amestris. When I was the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Oh shit! His comment before made sense! He was a FAN!

Woah… He was a fan…

That was refreshing.

"Yeah, surprise," I said, referring back to the 'woman' comment. "Is there any way of keeping this Edward and me are the same person a secret though?"

It didn't hurt to ask.

Coulson just smiled, handing me a large envelope. "Already taken care of."

I eyed the envelope and then him, back and forth for a moment before taking it and looking inside. I saw a LOT of papers in there. I tilted the envelope and let several of the papers slide out and –

"Everything you may need to start a new life is here," explained Coulson and my eyes widened, seeing one of the papers as a – "Birth certificate, school papers, driver's license… You do know how to drive, don't you?"

I shrugged as I continued to flip through all the papers. "I know which pedal is the brake and which is the gas."

"Maybe we'll wait for the driver's license…," he murmured, grabbing one of the cards in the pile.

"Erbsenzähler…," I mumbled.

"The cover story for you is that you are Edward Elric's great-niece," continued Coulson, ignoring what I had said as he pocketed the driver's license. "It'll explain the resemblance at least and remove questions about 18-year-old you having a love interest and child in 1945." I just hoped my face hadn't gotten too red at the mention of 'love interest'. "Also, if you wish to have your own place to live, let me know and we can arrange something."

I frowned, looking up from the papers. Not that I needed a place to stay but… "And how would I pay for that 'place to stay'?"

"Well, a good start is that you can find a job with the documents we have provided. S.H.I.E.L.D. would cover the costs, though."

"In exchange for what?"

Coulson cocked his head slightly, eyeing me carefully. "We wouldn't ask for payment."

"I believed you until now, Agent Coulson," I sighed, putting the papers back in the envelope. "As helpful as S.H.I.E.L.D. has been, they wouldn't do this for free." He opened his mouth to reply to that but I didn't let him. "Thank you for the offer but I already have a place to stay."

There was a pause before he nodded. "Of course. If there is anything else you need, my number is in the envelope as well. Contact me for anything."

I hummed in acknowledgement. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you for your help. Anything else? Tony should be talking to the reporters by now." Even though I had asked, I was already turned towards the room, ready to head back.

"There is one last question, Miss Elric," began Agent Coulson and I glanced towards him. "How exactly did you meet Mr. Stark?"

I just smirked, shrugging my shoulders. "Good question, Agent Coulson. Thanks again."

I turned around, raising a hand to wave at him as I walked back into the room.

"Pleasure meeting you," he called back and I felt myself smiling.

He wasn't getting his answer though.

This S.H.I.E.L.D. may have helped us these last few days but they were not getting ANY information about the Gate and how I got dropped onto Tony's basement floor. They could speculate all they wanted but they didn't deserve the truth.

No matter how much of a fan Agent Coulson was.

Well, at least not yet did they deserve the truth.

I entered the room in time to hear the end of a reporter's question on the television, "… that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you –"

"I know it's confusing," cut in Tony, sounding a little annoyed. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate, that I'm a superhero."

"What exactly did I miss…?" I whispered, standing next to Pepper as we both watched the scene unfold.

Tony didn't seem to be sticking to the alibi Agent Coulson had given him…

And, from the long sigh that came from Pepper, he probably wasn't…

"I never said you were a superhero," replied the reporter.

"You didn't?"

She hummed in disagreement and I saw Pepper massage her face.

"Well good," said Tony, lifting the papers in his hand, "because that would be outlandish and," he paused before finishing with a sigh, "fantastic." My ears perked up at the way he said that. He truly did want to be a better person… "I'm just not the hero type," he continued, seeming to backtrack on his previous statement. "Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public."

Pepper just seemed to deflate even more and, thankfully Rhodey took a step closer to Tony and whispered something to him.

Tony nodded, lifting his papers once again. "The truth is," he paused, his eyes staring ahead at the reporters and I had that feeling that he wasn't going to stick to the alibi…

And then he uttered those words that had the entire room up in a frenzy, shouting questions at him.

"I am Iron Man."

I just shook my head, a smile on my face.

This was going to be interesting.

Let me know what you thought! :D