Chapter Nine: I Am…

Leo groaned as he opened his eyes. He had hoped everything that had happened was a crazy dream but considering he woke in a hospital bed, he assumed that wasn't the case. "Hey kiddo. How are you feeling?" A voice from a chair beside his bed asked.

Leo frowned. He recognised that voice. He'd recognise it anywhere but, it couldn't be. Unless. "Am I dead?" Leo asked as he turned his head to look at his dad sat in the chair beside him.

"No buddy," Tony answered with a chuckle as he shook his head. "Somehow, and don't ask me how, I managed to survive the roof exploding."

"Can anything kill you?" Leo questioned. Tony laughed at that but Leo had been deadly serious in asking it. "My dad's immortal."

"I doubt that," Tony replied with a shake of his head. He leaned over to the empty chair next to him, picking up a newspaper that had been left there. "But, your dad is Ironman," Tony told him as he passed the newspaper over to Leo.

Leo opened the newspaper up to see a picture of the suit on the front page. He looked at the title, written in big bold letters. "Who is the Iron Man?" He read before looking back up at Tony. "That's awesome!" He exclaimed, grinning.

"Indeed it is. Even if it" Tony agreed with a nod, as he took the newspaper back, knowing full well that Leo wasn't going to sit there and read the full article. He chucked the newspaper back onto the empty chair beside him. "How's the head?"

Leo's hand went straight to the right side of his forehead and his fingers were met by the feeling of stitches. "It doesn't even hurt," Leo shrugged as he answered. He had forgotten all about his head injury until Tony had mentioned it.

Tony laughed again. "That's because you're dosed up on painkillers," Tony informed him. "You're going to have one hell of a scar. That will be a good story to tell the girls."

Leo laughed this time. "It would be a good story," he agreed, "If I could tell it."

"Why couldn't you tell it?" Tony questioned.

Leo looked at him, confused, "I can't go around telling people that my dad is Ironman even if it would be cool."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a secret. Isn't it?"

There was a beat as the father and son duo fell silent, looking at each other and both imagining how much more fun it would be if it didn't have to be a secret. If it was on the front cover of the newspaper, Leo knew all his classmates at school were probably going to be talking about it when they got back from the summer break. It would be so much cooler for Leo if he were able to talk about his own involvement.

"Yes, it is a secret," Pepper enforced, interrupting Leo's daydream of having the attention of all his classmates as he told his story, as she entered the hospital room. She stopped at the foot of Leo's bed and smiled at him. "It's good to see you awake, Leo. How are you feeling?"

"Never felt better," Leo shrugged. The medicine the doctors had given him was really working. Leo swung his legs over the side of the bed, raring to go. "Can we go home yet? I'm bored already," Leo complained, not to Tony or Pepper's surprise. Leo was energetic and always liked to be active; getting bored, distracted or restless very easily if he didn't have anything to occupy his mind. Being stuck in a stark white hospital room wasn't Leo's idea of fun.

"Hold your horses, tiger," Tony stopped him, placing a hand lightly on his son's chest to stop him from getting off the hospital bed. "The doctors need to take a look at you before we even think about leaving." Leo slumped back against the pillows, folding his arms unhappily. "Here," Tony said, chucking a tablet out of a bag he'd taken to the hospital with him and chucked it onto the bed, "Find something on there to keep yourself entertained."

Leo wasted no time in grabbing the tablet, unlocking the screen and scrolling through to find something he was interested in. Pepper turned her attention to Tony. "I've just spoken to Agent Coulson. He wants you to hold a press conference. There's quite a lot of speculation around who the Iron Man is. People aren't buying the cover story put in place," Pepper informed him.

"The body guard cover story?" Tony scoffed incredulously. "I don't blame them. It's a flimsy cover story."

"It's the one that they're going with. You have to stick to it," Pepper insisted though she was slightly unsure that he would. Tony Stark, after all, didn't like being told what to do. She just hoped he wouldn't be impulsive enough to destroy the cover story put in place. "The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division-"

"You actually memorised all that?" Tony interrupted.

Pepper continued without missing a beat, ignoring his interruption, "Are working on an alibi for you to provide to reduce the speculation around the Iron Man. We just need to arrange the press conference and inform them of the date and time. Agent Coulson placed particular emphasis on ensuring it is arranged sooner rather than later."

The press conference wasn't arranged as immediately as Agent Coulson had hoped. Tony had been especially stubborn about not leaving his son's side throughout Leo's stay in hospital. Despite Leo's insistence that he felt fine, the doctors had kept him in for a further two nights. Leo had managed to keep himself fairly entertained by listening, and reacting, to the numerous Iron Man speculations and conspiracy theories that built up over the days that Tony Stark remained silent surrounding the entire event. Some of the speculations and theories were weirdly close to what had actually happened whilst others were hilariously incorrect.

As a result of Stark's delay in holding the press conference, Agent Coulson found himself with more work to do. Not only did he have to create Stark's airtight alibi, complete with sworn witnesses, but he then had to create an explanation for Leo's admission to hospital. The release of a statement that Leo was in hospital after loosing his footing on the Stark yacht and hitting his head off of the side of the yacht as he fell into the water not only corroborated the alibi created for Tony but also explained his silence despite the controversy and speculations surrounding the events at Stark Industries.

Finally, three days after the events which flung Ironman into the public eyes, Phil Coulson stood in the back room of the press conference with Tony, Pepper and Leo as they watched on a television screen as James Rhodes spoke to the gathered reporters first. Stood at the podium, Rhodey was reinforcing the cover story that a member of Tony's personal security intervened during the events outside Stark Industries.

Coulson approached Tony and held out a number of blue cards for Tony to take. The blue cards contained the alibi that Coulson had spent the last few days working on solidifying and making airtight, packed into a short and clear speech for Tony to follow. "Here's your alibi," Coulson told Tony as he took the cards from him. "You were on your yacht. We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night and sworn statements from fifty of your guests."

"See, I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Pepper and me alone on the island," Tony responded as his read through the alibi on the cards, words full with insinuation that Leo didn't understand.

"Considering the press have already been informed that Leo was hospitalised following an incident on the yacht, that would only cause more questions to be posed," Coulson turned down the suggested amendment to the alibi whilst Tony received an all-too-familiar pointed look from Pepper. "That's what happened," Coulson insisted, referring to the statement provided to Tony on the cards, "Just read it word for word."

Tony finished reading the final card. "There's nothing about Stane here," he commented. The press would notice his absence soon enough. It would save time and energy to cover it all in one press conference.

"That's being handled," Coulson assured him without hesitation, making it clear that everything had been thought through. They weren't amateurs. "He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety record," Coulson provided further explanation when Tony looked at him inquisitively.

"But what about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard?" Tony questioned incredulously. The press not buying the cover story at all had been his and Leo's main source of entertainment whilst stuck in the hospital room, and yet they were still sticking to it? "He's my… I mean, is that… that's kind of flimsy, don't you think? I mean, the press aren't buying it."

"We stick to it. Changing it now will only make it look more like a cover up," Coulson insisted. "This isn't my first rodeo, Mr Stark. Just stick to the official statement and soon this will all be behind you." Coulson glanced at the television screen behind Tony, briefly listening to where Rhodey was in his own speech. "You've got ninety seconds," he informed Tony before turning and heading for the door.

"Oh, Agent Coulson!" Pepper called after him as she followed him to the door. "I just want to say thank you, for all your help," she said gratefully, glancing momentarily at Leo who was laughing as Tony started 'practising' reading the statement in a silly voice. "I don't even want to think about what might have happened if-" She cut herself off, deciding she didn't even want to voice her thoughts out loud.

Coulson gave a short nod, eyes full of understanding. "That's what we do," he replied modestly. "You'll be hearing from us."

"From the Strategic Homeland-" Pepper began to recite the name but was cut off, this time by Coulson.

"Just call us SHIELD," Coulson told her, revealing the simplified name and Pepper suddenly couldn't help but wonder why no one had thought of that before. In a division filled with super spies, surely someone would have thought of using the initials which coincidently spelt a rather apt word for a secret agency. With that statement, Coulson walked off, leaving the room without saying a proper goodbye.

Pepper turned back to look at Tony and Leo to see that Tony had given the cards to his son who was stood up at the front of the room, under the television screen that Rhodey was on, pretending to give the speech, ignoring the cards and making up his own. "Let's get this show on the road," Pepper announced, noticing on the television screen that Rhodey was finishing up with his statement.

Tony took the cards back from Leo, much to the young boy's apparent disappointment as he slumped back into his seat. "You know it's not actually that bad," Tony admitted as he approached Pepper. Apparently, reading through it a second time whilst entertaining his son had changed his mind. "Even I don't think I'm Iron Man," he added, somewhat sarcastically. Apparently not.

"You're not Iron Man," Pepper argued as she helped him to put his suit jacket on. She didn't want Tony getting attached to going out in that suit. It was dangerous. Just as she'd predicted, Tony had almost gotten himself and Leo killed.

"Am so," Tony mumbled through the cards in his mouth as he put his arms through his suit jacket.

"You're not," Pepper insisted as Tony took the cards back out of his mouth, holding them in his hands once again.

"He is!" Leo spoke up from where he was sat on the other side of the room, watching them with a look of amusement on his face.

Tony turned around to face Pepper. "You know, if I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity," He implied casually and Pepper did her best to avoid laughing as she saw Leo's look of disgust at the idea of his dad having a girlfriend, presumably not catching on to the implication. "She'd be a wreck, because she'd always be worrying that I was going to die, yet so proud of the man I'd become. She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me." The entire time he was speaking, Pepper made sure to convey no emotion on her face, focusing instead in perfecting his suit and fixing the pocket square in his jacket pocket. "Tell me you don't think about that night."

"What night?" Pepper questioned, acting dumb. She knew exactly what night he was on about but wanted to stall as she tried to figure out how she wanted to respond to him.

"You know," Tony responded instantly without missing a beat.

There were a pause in conversation as Pepper finished fixing his suit and slowly lifted her eyes up to hold Tony's stare. "Are you… talking about that night… that we danced and… went up on the roof and… then you went downstairs… to get me a drink and…" Pepper spoke slowly as they held each other's gaze. "You left me there, by myself?" She finished quickly. "Is that the night you're talking about?"

"Mmhmm," Tony confirmed lamely, uncharacteristically lost for words to respond with. He wasn't exactly used to rejection. It was new, unfamiliar territory that he had no idea how to navigate.

"Thought so," Pepper responded lightly, yet somewhat triumphantly as she fixed his tie. "Will that be all, Mr Stark?"

"Yes, that will be all, Miss Potts," Tony confirmed straight away, the words coming out of his mouth even before Pepper had finished speaking. The return to formalities a further highlight of his failure, he realised, as he rather sharply turned and walked away from Pepper. As he headed for the door which led to the press conference, Tony caught Leo's eye. The eight-year-old was looking at him with the same look Tony had seen in the hospital when Leo had questioned keeping the events and secret and both had imagined the outcome of revealing the true events.

"And now, Mr Stark has prepared a statement," Rhodey was finishing his statement and introducing Tony as he walked into the room and made his way towards the podium. "He will not be taking any questions," Rhodey informed the gathered press who, Tony noticed, were all sat on chairs unlike the last time he'd been in that room. "Thank you," Rhodey finished before vacating the podium, allowing for Tony to take over.

"Uh… it's been a while since I was in front of you," Tony acknowledged as he stuck his hand into his pocket for the cards Agent Coulson had provided him with. "I figured I'd stick to the cards this time," he said as he pulled them out, triggering laughter from the gathered reporters. Tony dropped his attention to the words written on the first card. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop-"

"I'm sorry Mr Stark," a female reporter sat on the front row interrupted the speech he was reading off the cards, "But do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared? Despite the fact that you-"

It was Tony's turn to interrupt the reporter, cutting her off mid-sentence. "I know that's it confusing," he spoke over her which quickly encouraged her to stop talking. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."

In the back room where Leo and Pepper stood watching Tony's speech on the same television screen that they had watched Rhodey on moments before, Pepper frowned. "Tony, what are you doing?" She muttered to herself.

Leo was grinning as he watched the screen. His dad had bought up the topic of superheroes himself. Leo let himself wonder whether his dad was going to throw away the speech given to him that he didn't seem to believe would work anyway. Having spent the last few days in hospital daydreaming about the world knowing his dad was the Iron Man, Leo was staring at the screen willing his dad to tell the true story of what had happened. Keeping it a secret would be like his spy movies but having to do that seemed boring in reality and Leo wasn't sure he could keep such a big secret. Perhaps he wouldn't have to.

"I never said you were a superhero," the female reporter who had been questioning the cover story corrected Tony immediately.

"You didn't?" Tony questioned, a frown momentarily flicking across his face as he responded to her. The realisation hit him that he was getting to caught up in his consideration of screwing the script Coulson had given him. It would, after all, be nice to get recognition for the work he had done, instead of some bodyguard receiving it all; not that anyone seemed to be buying that. "Well, good, because that would be outlandish and… fantastic! I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public…" Tony hesitated, realising he wasn't doing an overly good job at being convincing, possibly intentionally, he wondered.

Beside him, Rhodey turned his attention from the gathered reporters to lean over to Tony. "Just stick to the cards, man," he advised in a low whisper.

"Yeah, okay, yeah," Tony agreed as he whispered back. Stick to the cards, enforce the cover story that everyone was doubting, and get back to some degree of normalcy. "The truth is…" Tony began as he turned back to the gathered reporters. Then he paused again. It was time to settle the debate in his head; go with the real truth or the fabricated truth? He looked at the reporters watching him expectedly. Very few of them believed the fabricated story anyway, they would find out the truth eventually, it might as well be him who told them.

Tony's mind was set and he opened his mouth to reveal all and send the room into chaos again, as he had done the last time he'd held a press conference. "I am-" Tony started but hesitated once again as his gaze fell on Pepper and Leo entering the room. Suddenly, Pepper's words from a few days ago popped to the forefront of his mind.

You've already got Leo caught up in all this. You're going to get him killed. You're going to kill yourself, Tony.

If things had gone just a little bit differently a couple of days ago, Tony realised that Pepper could well have been right. Leo had been left hospitalised when just a few people knew of the existence of the Iron Man suits. Now, the whole world knew of its existence and Tony revealing himself as the Iron Man would only paint a bullseye on Leo's back. No. He had to do the responsible thing.

"I am informed that a bodyguard intervened during a destructive event occurring at Stark Industries three days ago," Tony continued, glancing down at the cards in his hands to keep himself on track and in line with Coulson's cover story. "I had no personal involvement in these events. In fact, at the time, I was on my yacht in Avalon hosting a party when…"

At the back of the room, a disappointed Leo zoned out of the false information his dad was feeding to the press. It looked like he would have to try and keep a huge secret after all. Leo sighed. Keeping secrets was not as fun as spy movies made it look.