Word count-1124

Cal had gone through surgery. She no longer needed the arc reactors and her lungs were now made out of a flexible metal so she could do more without running out of breath. Now without exhaustion stopping her, Cal could now run as fast as cars. Tony, Pepper and herself were at a press conference waiting to go up and explain what had happened.

"You've all received the official statement of what occurred at Stark Industries last night. There have been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and caused damage to the arc reactor. Fortunately, a member of Tony Stark's personal security staff..." Rhodey was talking on the TV behind Tony. Pepper was cleaning the stitches on his face as Cal and himself were reading separate newspapers.

"'Iron man'. That's kind of catchy. Its got a nice ring to it." Tony said. "It's not technically accurate. Its--" Cal cut him off.

"Because the suit is a gold-titanium alloy."

"Exactly. But its kind of evocative, the imagery, anyway."

"Yeah, and they've also managed to link The Dragon to Ironman. I didn't think anyone but the villagers that I saved knew about me." Cal pointed out.

"Here's your alibi." Phil Coulson entered the room and handed Tony a pile of cards.

"Okay." Tony took them and put the newspaper down.

"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 just Pepper and me alone on the island."

"Yeah, and you marooned me somewhere because I was being a nuisance." Cal joked.

"That's what happened." Coulson said.

"All right."

"Just read it, word for word."

"There's nothing about Stane here." Tony almost spat the man's name out. The Starks had grown a very large hatred for the deceased man and neither felt any remorse for what happened.

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

"But what about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard? He's my...I mean, is that...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. You've got 90 seconds."

Pepper followed him out and they spoke for a minute or so.

Tony and Pepper began talking.

"Let's get this show on the road." Pepper smiled.

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

"You're not Ironman."

"Am so." Tony said with the cards in his mouth as Pepper helped him into his jacket.

"You're not."

"All right, suit yourself. You know, if I were Ironman, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck, 'cause she'd always be worrying that I was going to die," He took the cards out of his mouth as he faced Pepper. "yet so proud of the man I'd become. She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me. Tell me you never think about that night."

"What night?"

"You know." She looked up at his eyes.

"Are you talking about that night we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself?" Cal and Tony cringed slightly. With finding out about Stark Industries dealing with terrorists, the two had left in anger in search of Obadiah, completely forgetting about the poor woman. "Is that the night you're talking about?" Tony only hummed in agreement, feeling guilty about leaving her there. "Thought so. Will that be all, Mr Stark?"

"Yes, that will be all, Miss Potts."

The three made their way to the press conference.

"And now, Mr Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions. Thank you." Rhodey allowed Tony and Cal to walk to the podium. Cal looked at the reporters and spotted Christine. The two women glared at each other for the rest of the time.

"Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." Laughter went throughout the room. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop--"

Christine's hand shot up. "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--" 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."

"I never said you were a superhero."

"Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic. I'm just not the hero type. Clearly." Cal sighed as Tony strayed further from the initial topic. "With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistake I've made largely public."

"Just stick to the cards, man." Rhodey whispered in Tony's ear.

"Yeah, okay. yeah." He lifted up the cards. "The truth is..." He looked up at the reporters. "I am Ironman." There was an uproar and Christine was the only one still sitting there, shocked. Cal knew that their lives had just changed forever.

A few nights later Cal and Tony entered their home. They had spent a night out because Cal was going away for a year or so to Asgard. Something was beeping.

"JARVIS!" Tony called out.

"Welcome home, sir." He sounded broken. The two caught sight of a man standing behind the couch.

"'I am Ironman'. You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr Stark, you have become part of a bigger universe, one that Cal was already in. You just don't know it yet." Cal knew exactly who it was and she could only describe him as a pirate.

"Who the hell are you?" Tony asked, defensively.

"Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD. I'm here to talk to you two about the Avenger Initiative."

After Nick, Tony and Cal spoke about the Avenger Initiative, Cal walked Nick out.

"It was great to see you again, Nick."

"You too, Cal. So, are you going to come back to SHIELD? You're still one of our best agents and I know Natasha and Clint miss you messing up the missions and improvising." Nick smirked.

"I'm sure they do." Cal chuckled. "I'm going away for a while, but when I come back I will definitely join the amazing life of a SHIELD agent. Goodbye, Mr Nick Fury." The two always pretended to be formal when they parted ways, it was something Cal did with almost everyone.

"Goodbye, Mrs Alma Barnes."