𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄 ~ 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤

Part Thirty One

"Tony?" You called as you entered the house. Everything was dark and you turned on the light, only to find the room empty. "Tony? Are you in here?"

You took your phone and dialed his number, but he wasn't answering.

You rolled your eyes as you walked down the stairs to the garage. The door were open, so you just walked inside. "Tony?"

Your eyes fell on an unconscious Tony by the cabinet and you dropped everything from your hands, running towards him. You saw the place in his chest where his arc reactor was supposed to be was empty. Next to him, there was broken glass and another arc reactor.

"Tony? Wake up." You lightly slapped his face before reaching over to the arc reactor.

Remembering how you helped him with the previous one, you carefully slid it inside his chest and twisted it until it was in place. A few moments passed and Tony still wasn't waking up.

Your heart was beating like it was going to jump out of your chest. Tony opened his eyes with a gasp, and you fell back on the floor, letting out a breath of relief.

"Y/N?" He asked when he saw you.

"What happened here?" You asked.

"It's Obadiah." Tony said, making you gasp.

"Obadiah? He did this to you?"You asked again. Why would he do that to Tony? You watched him get up from the floor and walk away from you.

"I'll explain everything to you when I get back, sweetheart." Tony said. "I promise."

Before you could process what was happening, a metal suit was put on Tony and he looked at you.

"What's happening?" You whispered to yourself and Tony looked back at you. He nodded at you and that's when the suit began to fly up towards the sky.

You didn't sleep that night. You were worried sick about what was happening and you closed yourself in your and Tony's room. Until, some time after midnight, the door opened and Tony walked inside. He was out of the metal suit but it looked like he was in a fight; he had multiple bruises and cuts on his face. You immediately sat up and turned on the light as Tony walked towards you.

"Tony... "You quietly said as he sat down onto the bed. You took his face into your hands and looked at his bruises, then back at his eyes.

He just stared deep into your eyes and your face softened. He began to tell you everything about Obadiah and his attack.

The next day, you were at Stark Industries, helping Tony get dressed for the announcement he was supposed to make.

"Iron Man."Tony said as he was reading the newspapers about what happened the last night."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."

"Shut up." You rolled your eyes as a familiar man walked towards you and gave a paper to Tony.

"Here's your alibi."Coulson said.

"Okay?" You and Tony shared a look.

"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 Y/N and me alone on the island." Tony said, smiling at you.

Agent Coulson nodded. "That's what happened."

"All right."

"Just read it, word for word."

Tony listened to him and his eyes scanned over the paper. "There's nothing about Stane here."

"That's being handled." Coulson said."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."

He walked away, while Tony looked at you."You know, it's actually not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man."

You scoffed, "Because you're not."

"Am so."Tony said.

"You're not."

Tony rolled his eyes as he turned fully towards you. "What do you say we get a nice dinner after I'm done with this?"

"I'll have to think about it." You teasingly said, making Tony smile.

He placed a kiss on your forehead, ready to go outside.

"Good luck."You told him with a smile on your face.

You walked outside after him. Rhodey was giving a statement to the press, but then he saw Tony and went to introduce him. "And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions."

"Thank you." Tony told him as he now stood in front of everybody. He caught your gaze and you nodded at him from the back of the room. He smiled before he started to talk. "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..."

You heard a familiar voice interrupt Tony. "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 you..."

"I know that it's confusing. Just as confusing as you interfering in my marriage, Miss Everhart." He said, making Christine move, embarrassed, in her place. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."

She looked up at Tony. "I never said you were a superhero."

You raised an eyebrow at Tony.

"Didn't? 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."

He started to ramble, which Rhodey noticed. He approached him to whisper to him, "Just stick to the cards, man."

"Yeah, okay. Yeah." Tony looked around the room and then looked back at you. You nodded and Tony gave you a tight smile. "The truth is..."Everyone waited for his next words. Your hands started to sweat, you were expecting Tony's answer as much as everyone else in the room. He was a wild card, you never knew what he'd do next. He looked up again. "I am Iron Man."

Gasps filled the room and every single reporter got up to get closer to Tony, blocking your view of him.