PEOPLE DESERVE LOVE

They sat in the waiting room and just waited for the cue for Tony to go up on stage to get his reasoning and explanation out about what happened at Stark Industries last night.

Tony sat at the table and had the newspaper out in front of him. "'Iron Man.' That's kind of catchy. It's got a nice ring to it," he said as Pepper began to take the bandages off his face to pat makeup on the bruises. "I mean, it's not technically accurate. The suit's a gold-titanium alloy, but it's kind of evocative, the imagery, anyways." Tony would occasionally glance to Abel who stood at the right corner of the room in front of him. She didn't look at him though, just stared at the TV screen behind him. Even before the incident that happened last night. Confronting her about her immortality was still fresh in his mind, and even seeing it first hand made him look at her differently. Hard to believe that a hunch as crazy as that would be right. He didn't hate her though, he was more so upset that she didn't tell him, but he guessed that it would be hard and almost impossible to explain that to someone. Abel hasn't even given him a glance since last night. It's like she's been trying to distance herself from him. But it didn't make sense. If that was true then why would she be here right now?

Coulson walked up to Tony and handed him a sheet of paper. "Here's your alibi."

"Okay." He took the paper as Coulson explained it.

"You were on your yacht."

"Yeah."

"We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, and sworn statements from 50 of your guests."

"See, I was thinking maybe we should say it was Abel and me. Alone on the island."

Tony's comment made Abel turn her head and look to him for the first time since last night, but her expression remained unchanged. She didn't have the usual kind and warm smile, just a blank stare.

"That's what happened," Coulson said and gave a glance to Abel.

"All right."

"Just read it, word for word."

Tony took a moment and flipped through the small pieces of paper. He squinted his eyes. "There's nothing about Stane here."

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

"But what about the whole cover story that they're my bodyguards?" Tony questioned the fake story. "They're my... Is that...that's kind of flimsy, don't you think?"

They had a cover to Abel to since she wasn't hidden. Any kind of video that was recorded was promptly destroyed or altered to look fake on purpose. Of course, her face was blurred out in every shot or replaced with a fake one. They were very thorough so her existence would remain a secret.

"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark. Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you." He looked at the TV. "You got 3 minutes." He began to walk out of the room but stopped when he was in front of Abel and began to whisperer to her. "I don't want to tell you-"

"Don't." Abel finally spoke, but her voice sounded defeated and tired. She stared at the ground as she spoke. "I already made up my mind, and I don't...need you to tell me."

Coulson could hear the hostility in her voice as well. He didn't pry into it. "I'll be leaving then."

Abel nodded but kept her head down. "I'll see you some other time." She said that because they always kept a sharp eye on her. Abel watched as Coulson left the room.

Pepper looked between Tony and Abel. She gave a sigh and walked to Abel. "I still haven't wrapped my head around you being...you know, but I think that it would be best..."

Abel lifted her head and smiled, but this time it was sad. She stared with her big brown eyes and tilted her head to the side. "I understand, Pepper." She said with her small and weak sounding voice.

Pepper bit on her lip and nodded her head. She placed her hand on Abel's shoulder and walked out of the room.

Abel moved from her spot and grabbed Tony's suit jacket. "Are you alright with this?"

Tony got up and turned around for her to put it on him. "You know, it's not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man."

Abel gave a small laugh. "You're not the type."

"Am so." He held the papers in his mouth to stick his arms through the sleeves.

"I don't see it." Abel smiled.

"All right, suit yourself." Tony felt Abel's fingers on the back of his neck as she adjusted the collar. "You know, 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 worried that I was going to die, but she'd have an even bigger secret and always come save me..." He spun around and face her, staring right into her eyes. "Yet so proud of the man I'd become."

"She would be proud." Abel snorted and looked away.

"She would. She'd also be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more..." he cleared his throat. "Crazy about me."

Abel was at a loss for words. She couldn't even look up and face him because her heart would feel like it would just jump out of her chest the moment she faced him. Her stomach felt fluttery and her mind spun just being this close. Abel gave a sad smile and lifted her head and face him. "Then I hope...you find that woman." Her eyes told him the truth that he didn't want to hear. "I hope you find that strong and beautiful woman that you could be proud of." Abel's lip began to quiver. "Because it can't be me."

He knew that she was going to say that. He just knew it but didn't want to believe it. It had an even harder impact on him then the missile that landed next to him back in Afghanistan. An even stronger pain from when his arc reactor core was stolen and he was left for dead, and it felt like the shrapnel in his chest was moving closer to his heart. "Abel..." He shook his head. He lifted his hands and grabbed her shoulders, but she only pulled away.

"I'm immortal." The truth stung like a bullet to the heart. "And you're...not." Her voice cracked like glass. "You'll age...and I'll stay the same." Abel's breathing became ragged. "I'll leave while you're doing your speech...and you'll never have to see me again. Like last night will be behind you...so will I."

"Abel..." Tony was about to talk but heard Rhodey talk on the TV behind him, signaling that he's about to go up.

Abel looked away. "You're up."

"And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions. Thank you." Rhodey stepped away from the pedestal as Tony took his place.

Tony waved the cards around. "Uh, been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." The crowd laughed. He cleared his throat but he choked when he saw the backdoor open and Abel walk out of the waiting room. She began to walk away and gave a single look at Tony as she did. She began to part with him with her usual kind and warm smile that he always loved to see. It was the first thing he saw when he woke up in the cave after all. Tony shook his head from the memories and started to read the cards. "There's been speculations that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," Suddenly Christen Everheart raised her hand. "Do you honestly expect us to believe that they were bodyguards, one of them being in a suit that conveniently appeared. Despite that fact that you..."

Tony's eye kept on looking up to Abel as she walked farther and farther away from him. It was like his world was moving in slow motion as he began to have flashbacks in memory and feeling. "I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make a wild accusation, or insinuate that I'm a superhero." His mind was whirling at this moment as he could barely see straight. He could not take his eyes off Abel as she walked down the hall, her figure getting smaller and smaller.

Christine held her hand up. "I never said you were a superhero."

"Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic." Tony almost mumbled that last word. "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 in. "Just stick to the cards, man."

"Yeah, okay. Yeah." Tony nodded and held up the card. "The truth is..."

He remembered, back in the Afghan cave. What Abel said to him before he parted with her, and...he held on to those words like a life preserver.

"It really really does please me to have been able to work with the great Tony Stark, but...will you do me a favor, Tony? Will you continue...to be great?"

The cave would have been hell on earth if she wasn't there. She was like a light in the nasty cave. Her kindness burrowed itself into him and he can't get her off his mind even if he tried...but he didn't want to. The time he got her back was like a miracle, that he didn't even think of at the moment how it was possible. He was just overjoyed that she was alive. Every moment with her was just...perfect. They had fun creating the Mark 2 and had fun outside his workspace. She was like a breath of fresh air, but then...he became aware of how she was able to survive that attack. She was too heavily injured to walk away from it. He questioned it and questioned it. He translated her conversation with the leader of the Ten Rings and the word 'immortal' came up. It was after that he put two and two together. He hurt her, and it felt like a boulder was on his chest after that. Seeing that look in her eyes when he yelled at her, and now...seeing her walk away, leaving everything they been through behind.

He didn't want that.

Call him selfish, he didn't care anymore. After all...he loved her with every fiber of his being.

Tony then paused and looked up from his paper and took a deep breath."I am Iron Man."

Abel suddenly froze and whipped her head around as the crowd erupted in shouts and questions like a tidal wave or a dam breaking. Abel had a look of complete shock as her mouth hung open. Tony stepped down from the presentation table and literally pushed himself through the crowd of people demanding answered. He fought through the crowd until he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, an open path with Abel standing frozen at the other end. Abel shook her head as the tears stained her eyes red and made them puffy. She opened her mouth to speak but it just came out in whimpers. She couldn't talk and she couldn't think. Years, decades, she has had...and now, she was left with nothing to pull away from.

Tony jogged down the hall to Abel who remained still and in tears. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned her back and planted his lips down on hers, kissing her deeply as their future depends on it.

Abel, a woman who is from the biblical figure of Cain and Abel, the world's first Immortal. A kind and gentle woman who found it hard to trust a person enough to fall In love...has let her walls down and embraced this man who had already found his way into her heart. Immortal or not. She will deal with those tragedies that are insured in the future when they'll come, but for not...she will let herself fall into this fairy tale.