The meeting with Director Fury and Agent Hill was going fairly well, Pepper thought. Fury hadn't given more than a token protest to granting Pepper a comparable clearance level to Tony, and while he and Agent Hill weren't exactly grasping the necessity of going to the press right now, they were at least listening to her. They were not listening to Tony, which just made it even more clear to Pepper that SHIELD didn't know Tony Stark as well as they liked to think. Tony had been in the public eye since birth. He knew, from a lifetime of experience, what the media would pay attention to, what they would let go, what they could be distracted on, what was better to get out in the open right away... sure, Tony still did whatever he wanted most of the time, but he at least knew how the media would react. But Fury and Hill weren't listening to Tony. So it was left to her to lay out exactly what would happen if they didn't start managing this story right now.

Tony's phone rang. She stiffened, as did Tony. They had told JARVIS no calls, so it had to be an emergency. Tony quickly pulled the phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear. "Stark."

"Really?" Agent Hill asked.

Tony ignored her. "Betty, slow down, just- what's wrong? Is everyone okay?" Tony relaxed a bit at Betty's answer, so at least everyone was all right. "Your father," Tony said. "General Ross showed up at the tower?" General Ross. The man who had been hunting Bruce. Pepper had a feeling she knew where this was going. "Betty, calm down, he's not going to get anywhere near Bruce- Yes, actually, if I have to, I will stop him myself." Tony rolled his eyes. "Trust me, my connections trump his. Betty, look, he's gone, right? Good. Tell JARVIS to tell security not to let him back in the building for any reason. Pepper and I will finish up here and we'll talk later, but it'll be fine. I'll take care of it," he said, then ended the call.

Tony looked at everyone. "So. General Ross showed up at the Tower."

"Is Betty all right?" Pepper asked.

"She's fine. Worried about Bruce and really, really pissed off at her father, but fine."

"Ross threatened to go after Dr. Banner?" Hill guessed.

"Yep," Tony said. He looked at Fury. "If you don't do something about this idiot, I will."

"We'll look into it," Fury said. "We're already keeping tabs on the groups that have shown interest in Dr. Banner in the past. And before you ask, no, we are not currently tracking Dr. Banner, yes, we could find him, but I am not using SHIELD resources to track him down just so his ex can talk to him."

Tony's look meant he wanted to press the issue, but Pepper nudged him and gave him a look that said drop it. Betty wasn't sure she wanted Bruce found right now, and even if she did, using SHIELD probably wasn't the way to go about it. Tony, thankfully, let it go.

"I want to know exactly what your plans are with General Ross," Tony said. "And Betty has to be informed too." Fury looked like he was about to refuse, but Tony pressed the subject. "Come on, she's been in the middle of this thing between her father and Bruce from the start. She deserves to know. As an added bonus, it might help get SHIELD back on Betty's and Jane's good side."

Fury looked completely exasperated, and apparently decided to just let Tony win this one. "Fine, Stark. She'll know and you'll know. Can we get back to the topic at hand, now?"

"Sure," Tony said. "How much am I going to tell the press about SHIELD?"

"Why are you so set on talking to the press and keeping this story alive?" Fury asked.

Tony closed his eyes in frustration. Pepper sympathized, and was about to try again, but Tony spoke first. "This story is not going to die. It is not going to go away. Look, you guys are good at cover-ups. You're good at misdirection, diverting people's attention elsewhere and burying the story. Aliens attacked New York City. There is no covering up or burying this story. It's not going to happen. What I- what we need to do is manage the story so it doesn't turn into a story about how the Avengers and SHIELD destroyed New York City. Because if we do nothing, that is going to happen. I promise you that."

"You can't tell the media anything about SHIELD, Barton, or Romanoff," Hill said.

"Well, I can't pretend Barton and Romanoff don't exist," Tony said. "There are photos and videos of them. I can say they're spies and it's classified, that should get me out of having to mention them by name, at least for a while, but I do have to tell them the name of the department they work for. SHIELD does exist, you're under the Department of Homeland Security, you have agents tell people they're from SHIELD... what is the big deal about mentioning SHIELD's name?"

"We're supposed to be under the radar, Stark," Fury said. "If we're not, then suddenly a lot of things will have to change."

Tony sighed and looked at Pepper. "What do you think?"

Pepper thought for a minute. "You can't lie and say they're with a different agency. Someone will find a source somewhere and that'll blow up in our faces. You can try keeping it vague and playing as if you don't know exactly what agency they work for, but..." she shook her head. "I don't think that'll work for long. People will sense a mystery and keep digging."

"If it'll buy us some time let's go with that and we'll try to figure something out," Fury said. "Now, about Captain Rogers."

"Sorry, nope, have to tell the truth about him," Tony said. "Press has already started speculating that he's the same guy from WWII."

"Stark, I know you probably want to make Rogers' life harder, but I don't like the idea of telling the truth and setting a pack of media vultures after him."

"Director, if we tell the truth it'll decrease media interest," Pepper said. "Somewhat. No one's going to believe a denial at this point. If Tony denies the story or doesn't comment, they'll be more determined to track Captain Rogers down and get a statement so they get the scoop. If they already have the truth, well, an interview would be nice but not earth-shattering."

"Though if you want to track him down so he can handle the press instead of me, I wouldn't object," Tony said.

Pepper gave Tony another look. "Tony, you are not leaving Captain Rogers to deal with a media that is vastly different than anything he knows and which he is probably completely unprepared to deal with," she said.

"If things get really bad or you screw it up, Stark, we'll call him in," Fury said.

"Oh, thanks so much for the vote of confidence," Tony said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Fury glared at Tony. Pepper had a feeling this meeting was heading downhill. "Stark, you're getting your way. You're talking to the press. You get to tell the truth about Rogers. But you had better keep SHIELD, Barton, and Romanoff out of the spotlight or I swear-"

"Fury, you have no fucking clue-" Tony snapped, at the end of his rope. Pepper knew there was no stopping Tony from saying his piece, so she settled back and hoped the fallout wouldn't be too bad. "First of all, talking to the press is not me getting my way. I hate the press. I'm doing this because it's necessary and since everyone else left town it's me or no one. I will try to deflect attention from your precious undercover agents, but I honestly don't know if it's going to work, so if the media decides that Hawkeye and Black Widow are their next celebrities, do not blame me for it."

"Who the hell else would I blame, Stark? This is your idea, you're going to be the one talking to the press-"

"Talking to them, yes, controlling them, no," Tony said. "Big difference, there."

"Christ, Stark, I do not need your shit right now," Fury said. "You would not believe the clusterfuck I'm trying to deal with, I have lost my best man-"

Tony slammed a hand on the table. "Do not even think about using Coulson's death to manipulate me again," he snapped. Fury blinked, only barely reacting to Tony's words, but of course Tony caught it and smirked. "Yes, I said again. What, you think I didn't know what you were doing? Hate to break it to you, but you were laying it on a little thick, there. Especially the bit with the cards. Was smearing them with blood really necessary?"

"How did you know about that?" Hill asked, surprised.

Tony looked at Agent Hill, his smirk a little satisfied, now, and Pepper knew that he hadn't known, not for sure, but Agent Hill had just confirmed his suspicions. "Coulson valued those cards. Even if I bought that he would be carrying them around in his jacket pocket, there is no way they'd be unprotected. They'd be wrapped in at least three layers of plastic," Tony said, turning back to Fury, "hence, no blood on the cards themselves."

Tony leaned back, acting like he didn't have a care in the world, while Fury glared at him. Pepper kept still, eyeing Fury and wondering if things were going to get worse. She really could live without seeing Director Fury live up to his name.

Thankfully, Fury just stood up. "Keep SHIELD and my agents out of the press, Stark. If you need anything else, talk to Hill. I have better things to do with my time."

"Always a pleasure, Fury," Tony said. Fury stalked off. When he was gone, Tony spoke again. "Well, that was fun."

Pepper just sighed, and looked at Agent Hill. "Do you need anything else from us?" Agent Hill hesitated, glancing at Tony, and Pepper guessed her question. "Don't worry, he's not going to mention SHIELD, Agent Barton, or Agent Romanoff today."

She guessed right as Agent Hill relaxed. "Then no, we don't need anything else right now," she said. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Your direct phone number," Pepper said, pulling out her cell phone. "I'll call you later so you have mine." Agent Hill looked even more relieved at that and Pepper gave Tony a warning look before he could make a comment.

He waited until they had been escorted out and were back in their car. "You know I'm going to give her a hard time," Tony said, amused.

"And you know I'm going to give her advice on how to handle you or intervene myself," Pepper replied.

"Spoilsport."