3. Secret Identities

As Tony poked his head around the opening of the barn he saw Clark standing over the open hood of the red tractor, the lamp he had hanging illuminating not only the inside engine but also Clark's face and glared off his glasses. Tony wondered why he even had them on if they were truly a disguise or if his eyesight was actually impaired. Pushing that thought away, he focused on the reason why he found himself on the Kent farm. Feeling like a stalker he walked in further and made his presence known.

As he swaggered around the corner he said, "Hello, Deere."

Clark looked up in Tony's direction, surprised and puzzled by his appearance and greeting.

"I was talking to the tractor, not you. Unless you want little pet names for each other?"

Clark shook his head and laughed,"I'll pass."

"Fair enough, we haven't reached that stage yet." Tony said, his eyes bouncing off everything in the barn, a bit nervous with what he was about to do. He hand grazed the wooden beam and he then spun around and sat on the stacked bales of hay against it. He crossed his leg and twiddled his thumbs in his lap.

"Are you okay, Tony?"

Was he okay? No. After making his discovery about Clark and reading more about Superman, and his prior identities as "The Blur" and "The Red Blue Blur", Tony found himself in a rabbit hole of superhero origin stories. He read about Aquaman, Flash, and Wonder Woman. It was when he got to The Batman and Green Arrow that the heartstrings had tugged at memories of his team and their experiences from fighting evildoers to eating shawarma. He started dabbling with the technology he had at his disposal, however limited it was, but for a genius like him and the second nature of his skills, before he knew it he had once again fallen off the superhero wagon.

Slamming back to reality the question posed to him, he answered,"Me? Just going through a bit of an identity crisis, nothing that shouldn't clear up on its own. But that was also what I said about those anxiety attacks I had and I had to keep building to make those go away."

Clark's brows furrowed as he asked, "So what have you been building?"

"A friendship? Among other things." Tony shrugged as he stood up once more.

Concern washed over Clark's face. "Do you need to talk? I don't think you'd be here if you didn't."

"There's some things I need to get off my chest." Tony said as he patted the center of his chest, his glowing emblem having returned in a new form under his shirt after the phantom feeling finally got to him.

"We can go inside…" Clark offered, breaking Tony from his thoughts.

Tony shook his head. "No, here is good."

Clark stood in silence, waiting for him to begin. Tony momentarily got distracted by the radio. "What is that yacht rock? You need to change the channels, add a little Black Sabbath."

Clark still waited patiently and Tony sighed, trying to get back on target. He knocked on the hood of the tractor, "You report the news today?"

Clark watching him intently replied,"You mean the dam breaking?"

"Yeah, you finally break that pen and paper out again?"

"Lois was the one all over that. She was happy that no one was hurt, but excited that she was in the middle of the action."

"You not so much?"

Clark stalled and looked at the tools and rag in his hand, rubbing them clean . "It was repaired. People were saved. That's what matters." He stopped polishing the metal. "You come down here to talk about the current events or is there something else on your mind?"

Tony wagged his finger at him. "I have a point here." Tony wandered for a moment, pulling his thoughts together and finding the right starting point for what he planned to tell Clark. For what he was itching to tell him, really.

"I was reading Morgan 'Green Eggs and Ham' before bed and going through all the voices and dialogue and I get to the words, 'Sam I am' and even though it's his name I-I just want to fill in the blank. The 'I am' part. I had a little catch phrase back home. A declaration of sorts. It meant something. It was a part of me. 'I am…'"

Clark raised his eyebrows and asked, "You are...?"

"I am…" Tony took a beat and then finished, "Iron Man." And in a familiar motion his arms extended from his sides and metal attached to his like a second skin.

He watched as Clark's arms and back stiffened beneath his blue T-shirt, as if what he had said and was witnessing was a threat. The tools in his hand were in a hard grip. Tony understood, but he had to show him. It wouldn't have much effect if he didn't.

"And who is Iron Man?" He asked cautiously.

"Someone I created. Someone I've been running from. Back and forth, break up and make up, 'just when I think I'm out they pull me back in' type of deal." Clark was still staring at him and he clarified, "That thing that held off the breach of the dam. That was me…" and he quickly added, "Don't tell Pepper."

"That was you?" Clark asked skeptically.

"I thought I'd get more of a reaction. A pat on the back. A defensive blow. Positive or negative. Or both."

The Reeves dam save wasn't an isolated event. There had been other issues that arose in and around the suburbs outside of Metropolis that Iron Man had helped with before the other heroes had their chance. He didn't linger, tried to escape any pictures and videos being taken, but that was near impossible. He knew he would have to sit down with Pepper and have a talk with her. And while she fit the superhero suit better than anyone, it was a different hero he needed to break his silence to. Someone he could connect with who understood his plight.

Clark finally took a step towards him, a step towards accepting his revelation. "Were you also the one who stopped the hijacked speeding bus?"

"No, that was Keanu Reeves." Tony quipped.

Clark held the bridge of his nose and then adjusted his glasses. "Tony, why are you telling and showing me this?"

"Because you're the only one I know here who understands."

"What do you mean by that?"

The Iron Man suit retracted back until Tony was completely rid of it, standing just as he had in the middle of the barn.

"Don't get me wrong, the glasses are a nice touch, able to fool many people," he pointed to Clark's broad shoulders, "the posture, too, but I'm more perceptive than that. A curse and a gift wrapped in one." He took a step forward and said pointedly, "I know."

"You know what?"

Tony let his head fall back with a mild eye roll before staring at him again. "Wow, we're still going to play it like that? Okay. Well, then let me put it this way. I know that you used to wear tights and fly around fighting for truth, justice, and the American way."

"Not tights." He heard Clark mumble.

"I could upgrade the suit, by the way."

"I'm not looking for an upgrade because I'm not Superman." He said firmly.

"Anymore." Tony finished. "Superman died in the fight against Doomsday. In the wake of that the Justice League was met with a team of Supermen looking to fill the position. And coincidentally, Clark Kent was also missing, presumed dead. He survived, but Superman remains entombed in some memorial in Metropolis."

"Tony…" Clark started.

Tony stopped him."Kent, I get it. Because I had a Doomsday, except his name was Thanos and was a real son of a bitch. Looking for these stones to wipe out half the population of my Earth. And to make a long story about time travel short, I died, too."

Clark surveyed him. "You seem pretty alive to me."

"You get killed, you walk it off." He shrugged and then explained, "I was thrust into a limbo of millions if not billions of Earths, just like this. I might have even seen or hallucinated a future one, I don't know. All I know is that they exist alongside each other and I managed to jump from mine to this one."

He could see it in Clark's eyes. Something has clicked. "The multiverse." Clark concluded.

"Bingpot! You've seen it haven't you?"

Clark dropped his tools and looked away, then back at Tony. "It's not something to toy with. It's dangerous."

"Yeah, I've heard that before and you don't have to worry because it was a one time trip. We're here to stay." He said with a stomp of his foot on the ground.

"But you want to know more about it, don't you?"

He tilted his head and relented, "As any genius scientist, of are many things here that I'm discovering. Like that meteor rock for one thing."

Clark caught his breath. "I would stay clear of that."

Intrigued, Tony asked, "Why?"

"All those stories you read about, the weird and strange things, many of them are because people in this town were infected with that stuff. The League has gotten rid of and relocated as much as it can."

"So it could make me 'The Nutty Professor'. Noted."

"Look, what you said before…"

Tony held up his hands, "Don't worry, I might be attention seeking in nature, but I understand your reasons to lay low. Your secret identity is safe with me."

"I'm really not Superman anymore. Emphasis on the super part."

"Your powers are gone? I guess the muscles didn't deflate with them." He said, giving a poke to Clark's chest, which Clark didn't find amusing. " Is this permanent?"

"Gone by choice. To make my long story short if I want them back I can get them, but right now I'm only interested in being with my family full time."

Tony was empathetic to the feelings. He also knew the other flip of the coin."But it calls to you, doesn't it?"

"I let it go to voicemail." Clark sighed and Tony smirked. "There's a team of heroes in place that I trust. They can defend the Earth fine without me and they have been."

"Yeah, I've read their bios. Oddly similar to my team of Avengers. You have a Green Arrow, we have a Hawkeye, you have a Red Tornado and we have a Vision, an Atom and an Ant-Man, and so one and so forth."

Clark's eyebrows narrowed in puzzlement."The Avengers?"

"Yeah, we avenge things. Or we did. I'm not sure what they're doing now."

"Preserving your legacy?" Clark suggested with a grin.

"Yeah, well, I was kind of a big deal," Tony shrugged, picking up a wrench on the tractor's engine.

Clark shook his head. "How did your head fit through the door?"

"Well, I just enlarged the doors at the Avengers headquarters. And your barn door is pretty big."

He shook his head at Tony's attitude, "You're something else, Tony."

"So, I've been told." He put down the wrench he was playing with. "You can take the man out of the alternate earth, but you can't take the alternate earth out of the man, I guess." He then chuckled to himself, "I didn't think I'd miss it as much as I am. For five years I broke away from it all, after Thanos pulled off his parlor trick of making half of the world disappear. I got married to the love of my life. We had an amazing daughter. It was what I had dreamed. And then I was needed. I figured out time travel and I was back in the game. I had peace for five years. I thought I could find it again. I mean, I kind of have. I wanted to build Pepper a farm and hope that no one blows it up. But I guess I just needed to get all this out, you know? Otherwise those anxiety attacks flair up and they're no picnic."

"So, you told me."

"I knew you would get it. And you're easy to talk to, like a buffed golden retriever."

"I do get it and I resent the golden retriever remark."

"Well, you've got that Lab puppy in the house. I'd hate to get you guys confused. And what kind of name is Krypto for that dog? Lois said she had another name picked."

Clark pointed at him, "You call me Clarkie and I'll kick you out of here."

Tony let out a chuckle. "I won't. Don't want to lose the new friends I've got."

Clark gave him a reassuring smile. "It can't be easy, everything you've gone through. So no matter what, if you need us, if you need me, I'll be here."

And just like that Tony felt slightly homesick and sighed. "You remind me of someone, a close friend, held a lot of the same values you do. We didn't always see eye to eye, had a falling out a time or two, bickered like crazy, but the respect was always there. Anyway, you're a lot like him and that's made me feel better."

"So, who's this counterpart of mine?" He questioned.

"Captain America." Clark made a face at the name and Tony added, "Yeah, I wasn't too keen on it either. Or him for that matter. It's connected to my Dad issues. Longer story."

He sighed,"Well, it beats 'Boy Scout'."

Tony smiled and pointed at Clark."Ha! I like that."

"Please don't. I'd rather it be 'Clarkie'."

Feeling like he had possibly outstayed his welcome Tony assumed, "Alright, okay. I'll get out of your hair now. Thanks for listening." He turned and started to walk away until Clark called out,"You want to help me with the tractor?"

Tony spun around and strutted back over."You mean make that tractor one thousand percent better?" He picked up the wrench and smiled. "I was hoping you would ask." After a beat he inquired, "Got any snacks out here?"

As the two worked together they both shared their back stories, growing closer in trust and in some shared experiences from the past and hope for the future.

Hours had passed and Tony finally decided that it was time for him to head back home and have his heart to heart talk with Pepper. Clark had to admit he felt somewhat inspired by Tony, but he wasn't close enough to donning his red and blue just yet. Though, being able to talk with him was therapeutic and he knew Tony felt the same.

Walking through the side door he tried to be quiet to not wake the kids and a possibly sleeping Lois. Though the minute he entered the kitchen he heard her voice from the dining table.

"So, I saw Tony was here awhile. You boys have fun?"

"He just needed someone to talk to." Clark said, going over to the sink and washing his hands of the dirt and dust of the barn.

He heard her get up from her seat and could feel her eyes focused on his back, almost like she had acquired his heat vision.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with multiple sightings of a flying tin man, would it?"

Clark stopped mid scrub and looked over his shoulder at her. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"No, but you're pretty sorry you lost that super-hearing, now aren't you?" She joked with a smile.

"How did you-?" He began to ask, but he should have known better.

Lois cut him and placed a hand on her hip, her ponytail whipping behind her as she made her point "Did you forget who you married? I've been doing recon on our new neighbors since you told me about them. After these multiple events and Tony's evening call, I'm just putting two and two together."

Clark smiled. "You do know how to keep a secret."

"I'm assuming since you let him stay he's a friend and not a foe?"

Clark nodded as he wiped his hands dry with the dishrag. "He's okay. Just far away from home."

Lois's eyes narrowed and nose crinkled in thought. "Is he an alien?"

"No." He said, throwing the towel behind him.

Lois waved her hand for him to go on. Clark grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. He loved the sound she made when she caught her breath in surprise of his move. He relished that he didn't need his powers to do that.

"Callie and Chris asleep?" He asked, noticeably trying to change the subject.

She nodded.

"So, then why don't we head on upstairs." As his head tilted down the glasses he was still wearing slid down. He instinctively pushed them back up slowly adding a seductive, "Miss Lane."

Lois bit the bottom of her lip, that tone and moniker getting to her each and every time.

"That will only distract me for so long and eventually you'll crack under my...persuasiveness, Smallville."

"I know." He admitted as he gave her a lopsided grin. "I'm looking forward to it."

She stared into his eyes, almost looking for something for a split second. It was instinctive for her to always double check when he let himself be free with her, no filter for his desires. Though, this was often, and it had been for years with her, when he couldn't help his directiveness or his actions when he was with her. She had been afraid years before that she was his weakness, when in contrast she was what made him bold and strong. She wasn't the green kryptonite she feared she would be, but the red kryptonite that pushed him to be outside of the boundaries and let loose. It was natural to be this way with her, it always had been. It always would be.

"Okay, so what are you waiting for? Start distracting." She smiled.

In the low sultry voice he knew sent shivers up her spine, he replied, "Yes, Miss Lane."

She gave off a tiny shriek when he quickly pulled her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. And like clockwork, after their fun, he divulged all that he knew, and he too had a heart to heart with his wife.