063

Somewhere in California.

A runway of which most of the population was unaware of its existence could be observed a considerable amount of people working on it, several had mechanics uniforms while others seemed to have some kind of combat suit.

What they all had in common was an eagle symbol somewhere on their clothing, each one of them had a serious look, soon light was projected on the runway however it was too little to even think about landing.

A small sound soon began to be heard in the sky while the small stones around the runway began to move steadily.

Soon a black plane came into view and in an ill-advised manner began to descend in an attempt to land on the runway, at such a dangerous and crazy action the people on the ground did not show any panic reaction and instead seemed to be relaxed.

What followed after that was a perfect landing that could only be due to the great skill of the pilot, after a while the plane turned around to be completely ready once his cargo arrived.

Soon the rear door of the plane began to slowly open and a white man wearing glasses and with the signs of hair loss began to exit the plane.

One of the men on the ground began to walk quickly over to the newcomer, "Mr. Coulson" he mentioned by way of greeting.

"How long until the team arrives?" he asked immediately.

The other man showed no discomfort and with a wave of his hand he called out to a woman holding a Tablet in her hands, he quickly took the device in his hands and with a single glance knew what he wanted to know.

"They'll be here in 10 minutes" he mentioned quickly.

Coulson just nodded, as they were within the acceptable time range.

Time passed slowly, but none of the men working on the airstrip showed discontent, it had been about 5 minutes, and they had received no report from the men on the outer perimeter about the convoy sighting.

When clearly and according to their locator they should be starting to be visible.

"I'm not liking this" Coulson mentioned to himself, with each passing minute a feeling that something was happening was growing more and more in his being.

Making a decision he began to move towards one of the cars near the hangars on the runway. "Something strange is going on" he commented to the air.

"I want 10 agents behind me!" he suddenly shouted, his voice leaving no room for negotiation, "Those who remain raise defenses to level three, we are under possible enemy attack" his voice echoed throughout the facility.

It took about 8 minutes at top speed to see the convoy, however, the image was something he wished had never happened.

The convoy was at a complete standstill, something that should never happen and when it did, it was only in the worst-case scenario. The only consolation he could get at the moment was that they did not appear to have been ambushed with lethal force.

Quickly he parked the car and got out of it with his weapon in hand his ear soon heard the men following him doing the same, there was no need to give directions as they had learned what to do in any situation in their time at the academy.

Cautiously, but at the same time with a sense of urgency the 11 people approached the convoy, this time it had consisted of 5 vehicles, 2 in front, 2 in the back and a containment and detention truck in the middle being guarded by the others.

The first thing Coulson noticed was the lack of damage to the vehicles, there was simply no damage, the men inside had their eyes closed, but their breathing was still visible perhaps a little slow, but ultimately they were alive.

Despite wanting to verify the condition of the men, Coulson knew he should not waste any more time, and although he was sure it would not change anything, he walked quickly to the truck, his gaze passed the front window and looked at the same situation as in the other vehicles.

It didn't take him long to turn it completely around only to be greeted by the doors completely closed, a small feeling of relief took over his body maybe the one behind the attack couldn't open the doors due to their security mechanism.

But despite wanting to believe in that scenario he knew it was too naive of him, he quickly accessed the security system and entered the correct data to unlock the doors.

Once he finished those steps he opened the doors only to be greeted by a completely empty interior. By this time the other agents had caught up with him.

"Contact the Helicarrier" he ordered heavily, "Report that Obadiah Stane managed to escape in an unknown manner" were his words before closing the door again with force, a feeling of anger coursing through his body.

…

Location Unknown.

At the same time that the main S.H.I.E.L.D. command center received the news about Stane's escape and the possible chaotic search it would cause.

Obadiah woke up and the first thing he felt was cold, his vision tried to look for a point of light however the darkness was so intense that he couldn't even see his own hand, although he knew it was in front of him.

His ears heard several sounds belonging to birds and one or another footstep that was impossible to know what it belonged to, soon he could hear the howling of several wolves.

Soon he could observe a small orange light and how a moth headed towards it, on his way and due to his almost null vision he fell several times to the ground, but he never stopped moving towards the light.

Once he was close enough he could tell that the light was a small campfire however there was a figure of a man nearby, a man he recognized immediately.

"Osborn" he called, his voice sounding as intimidating as he could, but in a situation like this it wasn't something that went over very well.

"Stane, Stane" without paying too much attention to the old man Osborn began to say, "You shouldn't have attacked my home" he mentioned simply however the surrounding aura was practically coming to life and was moving in a furious manner.

"You are not a sain" he began to say however soon he felt a sharp impact on his leg which caused him immense pain.

"I didn't give you permission to speak" mentioned Norman who had thrown a small stone with a part of his strength directly at the Stane's leg.

"Damn y" began to say again Obadiah, but before he could finish his words a heavy hit directed towards his head silenced him.

"Keep quiet" ordered Osborn as he pressed the Stane's head to the ground with his foot, at every moment he was controlling his strength so as not to end the fun so quickly.

"I never intended to go after you, you weren't worth my time, I'd just let Tony take care of you" mentioned the Osborn casually, however, the other man began to move erratically at the Stark's mention, but a simple increase in the force employed by Norman made him calm down.

"But you sent your men into my home, the same place where my son lives, that's what doomed you" he continued, the tone of anger was practically palpable in his words, this was possibly the first time Norman had completely lost his usual indifferent attitude.

"You made it personal, and I'll take my time with you because of that" he added, and the small campfire Stane intended to use as a shelter was completely extinguished.

The cries and screams of despair were heard for a considerably long time accompanied by laughter of amusement, Stane's last cries were accompanied by the joyful howls of the wolves having found a wonderful dinner.

…

December 9, 2009.

About 12 hours earlier an event had occurred that at this point most of the public was aware of, although S.H.I.E.L.D.'s response was quick, they could never fully control an event like that, especially when there were thousands of witnesses.

The major media outlets in the country had published a series of articles in rapid succession, all attempting to provide an answer to what really happened at the Stark Industries facility.

During the course of the night there had been no official statement of what had happened, at least until this morning, when several news programs invited Anthony Stark to a conference where he would give the corresponding explanations.

In what could be considered as a waiting room was Tony Stark next to his assistant while watching on TV his friend Rhodey stand up for him, at least until it was his turn to go on stage.

"Iron Man?" Stark asked himself as he looked down at the newspaper in his hands, "It's a good name, but it's not quite right to call him by that name" he mentioned as he began to get lost in his own words.

"Your cover" Agent Coulson said to him as he extended a few cards to Stark, someone who could read people well would realize that he had a certain tiredness and irritability.

"Thank you" Tony mentioned to him as he began to read the cards that were handed to him, "It doesn't mention anything about Stane" he said as he gave the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent a simple glance and returned it back to the cards again,

"Neither does it about the third suit" he added.

"Mr. Stane is on a trip" Coulson commented without a single flaw, "Accidents happen" he continued, though he knew they would be in serious trouble if they failed to discover his location.

The other two people just remained silent as they nodded their heads, despite everything Stane had been someone they could consider a reliable friend.

"As for the third individual involved we will resolve it in a different way that you don't need to know about" in a clear manner the Agent mentioned leaving little space for them to question that issue again.

"But really my bodyguard?" he asked with a bit of disbelief, "While the story of the faulty prototypes isn't too good either at least it has more logic to it" said Stark not caring that his words might upset Coulson.

"Just follow the official statement and everything will be resolved" he commented serenely before turning and starting to leave the room.

The chatter between Pepper and Coulson soon invaded Tony's ears, "Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D." were the man's last words before his footsteps began to sound more and more distant.

Tony got up from his seat and walked over to the redhead and in what could be considered a natural action Potts helped Stark put on his jacket, "I was thinking after all this is settled you and I can spend some time together" Tony began to say.

"After all you still owe me some compensation for abandoning me last time" he added as he turned around and looked into her assistant's eyes.

"I think you're the only woman who has ever turned me down" he continued, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Once Pepper finished her work she just looked at Tony, "It's your turn to go out" she mentioned simply as she started walking towards the exit of the room.

Tony just flashed a small smile as it seemed he would have to work a little longer.

…

"Now Mr. Stark has an important announcement to make, however, he will not be answering any questions" with those words Rhodey gave up his position to Tony who just gave him a friendly smile.

"It has been a while since I have been in front of you so this time I will follow the script" he mentioned as soon as he was in front of the microphones while waving the cards in his hand.

"During the course of last night and part of this day there has been speculation of my involvement in the events that occurred at Stark Industries headquarters" he began.

"Mr. Stark do you really think we believed the story that a special bodyguard saved you and conveniently made his appearance, completely forgetting what you have always held the opinion of" a blonde woman who for some reason was familiar to Stark raised her hand and didn't even wait for a prompt to begin speaking.

Coulson who had been standing in the back of the media gave directions in a low voice. "Be prepared to have to take her out of the room" he mentioned to the men next to him who began to move from where the blonde was standing.

"I know this story can be confusing, but the truth is not always a straight line" replied Stark, "Besides it's one thing to question the official story and another thing to insinuate that I could be some sort of superhero" he added, sincerity mixed with lies could be heard from his mouth.

"I never insinuated such a thing much less mentioned it" in a scathing way the blonde pointed at him.

A small silence formed in the conference, "I certainly don't think I could be a superhero with my long list of mistakes and flaws I think it's not a title I could carry" starting to ramble quickly Tony spoke in a general way.

At this point the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had arrived at the blonde journalist's location and in a calm manner, but one that left no room for rejection they asked her to follow them. On the other hand, Rhodey who had kept out of everything whispered to Tony to continue reading the cards and stick to them completely.

Tony just shook his head and positioned his gaze on the cards having thought to do as his friend advised, but his mind soon recalled the scene of his escape from captivity, watching the man who helped him in every step of his escape die in his hands.

"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life" were his last words.

His mind soon flashes to another memory at the first party he attended after returning to the country, where he had a chat with a man who may not have gone through the same situation as him, but one who could understand what it was like to have a second chance.

"I'm trying to figure it out, I'm just still in the planning phase" was the answer he gave to Norman when he asked him what he was thinking of doing with his second chance.

Remembering both things made a self-critical smile form on the Stark's face as a small feeling of self-deprecation formed within himself, his mind refocused on the present day where most people were waiting for him to say something.

His gaze passed Rhodey who was watching him with a bit of concern, in the distance he could notice the blonde woman being escorted by security, and he could also notice Coulson watching him carefully.

"The truth is" Tony started to speak however he paused for a moment thinking about the possible consequences his next words could have, but maybe this was what he needed, just maybe this was the reason he didn't die in that cave.

"I am Iron Man" he revealed, and instantly the press conference descended into complete madness.

Norman who had been watching the press conference from the beginning while he was in the living room of the apartment where he was currently staying just thought that certain things didn't change.

Soon Felicia's voice was heard, and the Osborn started to head towards the kitchen, because she would have to leave the country in the afternoon, the white-haired woman would take care of Harry together with Bernard, and she had the idea of making him a breakfast that she was sure he would love.

If he thought about it this would be the first time he would taste a meal prepared by Felicia, a smile appeared on his face when he arrived at the kitchen and saw Harry dressed like a little chef while the beautiful white-haired girl was concentrating on serving the just finished meal.

"Come on sit down" Felicia mentioned to him with a smile as soon as she noticed his arrival, this time the outfit she was wearing was a simple white short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, but because she was wearing a kitchen apron it made her have a completely homey aura.

Norman took a seat next to Harry at the small table in the room, the food was soon served and just by the scent of it Norman could sense that it would taste good.

Once Felicia was seated along with the two men of the Osborn family, the eating began, while a harmonious chatter was taking place.