INFERNO │ Marvel

1.7 iron man and inferno

Amelia kept touching the healing cut on her head as she watched Rhodes talk about the previous night's events, and Pepper kept telling her off for doing it. Amelia's injuries had been worse than Tony's, but after the bullet had been removed, her Hellfire regenerative abilities meant she was already on a speedy road to recovery.

"Iron Man," Tony said from his spot where Pepper was doing his makeup. He pulled the newspaper down from his face. "That's kind of catchy. It's got a nice ring to it. I mean, it's not technically accurate. The suit's a gold-titanium alloy, but it's kind of evocative, the imagery, anyway."

"That's cool," Amelia nodded in approval. "Rolls off the tongue."

Tony glanced at her over the paper. "And would you look at this. Several mentions of a burning woman they're calling 'Inferno'. That's kinda cool too."

Amelia smiled at him as Pepper began on concealing her injuries, now done with Tony's. "It's intimidating. I like it."

"Here are your alibis," Phil Coulson said to the pair as he entered the room and handed them note cards.

"Okay," Amelia responded.

"You were on your yacht."

"Yeah," Tony confirmed.

"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," Tony suggested. "And, you know, Ames was off doing her own thing."

"Nice," she said sarcastically, though she couldn't help but smile at the blush on Pepper's face.

"That's what happened," Coulson reiterated. "Just read it, word for word."

"There's nothing about Stane here," Tony pointed out.

"That's being handled. He's on vacation. Small aircrafts 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... And the flaming woman just being another suit on fire? That's kind of flimsy, don't you think?" Tony questioned the agent. Amelia snorted at the ridiculousness. Then again, her having pyrokinesis was pretty ridiculous in the first place.

"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark. Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you," he said. He then turned to Amelia, who raised her eyebrow at him. "And maybe we finally have something to chat about later, Miss Stark. You've got 90 seconds."

"Agent Coulson?" Pepper called out to him before he left. "I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of your help."

"That's what we do. You'll be hearing from us."

"From the Strategic Homeland-"

"Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D," he said, smiling at Amelia. She smiled too, thinking back on their previous conversation.

"Right. Let's get this show on the road," Pepper said as she turned back to the Starks.

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

"You aren't Iron Man," she replied to Tony and then glanced at Amelia. "And you're not Inferno."

"Are so," Tony said.

"You're not," denied him once more.

"Alright, suit yourself," he said. "But, you know, if I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend-"

At that point, Amelia wandered off from the room alone, giving the unofficial couple time to talk alone. Now being free to think, she mulled over the idea of what this Inferno persona meant. Of course, she was expected not to claim it, but her heart was telling her different. All Amelia had ever wanted to do was live up to the Stark legacy of being a protector of the world, and Inferno and Iron Man were her and Tony's way of doing that.

When Tony and Pepper caught up with her, the two Starks made their way to the stage as Rhodes introduced them. They stood side by side behind the podium.

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

"I'm sorry, Mr Stark," Christine Everhart cut in. "But do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, or that a spare suit happened to catch fire, despite the fact that you-"

"We know that it's confusing," Amelia said. "It's one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that we're superheroes."

"I never said you were superheroes."

"You didn't?" Tony asked. He glanced at his sister who gulped, realising the mistake she had made. "Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic. We're just not the hero types. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes we've made, largely public."

"Just stick to the cards, man," Rhodes whispered from behind them. Tony gave him a small nod as he held up his cards to read from them.

"Truth is... I am Iron Man."

Amelia grinned at her brother before turning to the crowd. "And that makes me Inferno."

-

The drive back to the mansion was quiet for the most part. Pepper, Coulson, Rhodes and anyone else they could think of was annoyed at what the Starks had done at the press conference. Neither regretted it though.

"What now?" Tony asked his sister, who was leant against the car window observing the city lights outside. She turned to look at him.

"I think I need to work on my combat skills," she half-joked. "And I could do with some armour of my own. The second we get back I'll be in the shop."

"You gonna stick with this hero stuff?"

"Are you?" She watched her brother's face closely as he seemed to contemplate his answer.

"Figured I'd give it a try," he replied.

"Well then," she said, taking his hand in her own. "Maybe Iron Man and Inferno could do some good for the world, hm?"

-

When the Starks got back to their Malibu mansion, the whole place was dark and quiet. Amelia let out a heavy breath as she pulled off her jacket and heels.

"JARVIS!" Tony called out for his AI assistant.

"Welcome home, sir," JARVIS spoke, his voice distorted and cutting out.

"J?" Amelia said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"'I am Iron Man'." another voice spoke from the darkness, deep and mocking. "And we can't forget Inferno. Mr Stark, Miss Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet."

"Who the hell are you?" Tony asked the mysterious man. He stepped out from the shadows, revealing a tall figure in a long dark coat, an eyepatch covering his left eye.

"Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."