Tony was picked up by Happy and Pepper, who, after having been checked by the paramedics, were found to be fine. Tony stepped into the car, and Happy drove straight to the airport so they could head home.
At the airport, Tony's private jet was waiting. Once aboard, they settled in, and Pepper turned on the television. The news was broadcasting a live interview with Senator Stern, the senator from the United States on armed services.
"It's just unbelievable. It proves that the genie is out of the bottle, and this man has no idea what he's doing. He thinks of the Iron Man weapon as a toy.''
''I was at a hearing where Mr. Stark was adamant that these suits can't exist anywhere else, don't exist anywhere else, and never will exist anywhere else—at least for 5–10 years."
"But here we are, in Monaco, realizing—oh, oh—these suits do exist now. Not just one, but three, all different from each other. One crazy billionaire, one now-deceased criminal who ambushed the race, and finally, a murderer who infiltrated a highly guarded facility and killed someone, while all Stark could do was stand and watc—"
"Mute," Tony said, cutting off the sound with a voice command. He sat back with a sigh.
"Tony, what are you not telling me?" Pepper asked him.
Once back at home, Tony went straight to the basement of his Malibu villa.
"Jarvis, pull up anything related to Anton Vanko and Ivan Vanko. Also, search for information on a Liam, around 18–22 years old, wearing strange gray armor and wielding a red spear. Check security footage from the Monaco race and the prison murder. Run facial recognition scans."
"Yes, sir," Jarvis replied.
Meanwhile, Tony was deep in thought. After a minute or two, Jarvis displayed all the relevant information, snapping Tony out of his thoughts.
"Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the U.S. in 1963…" Jarvis began, listing all known details about Anton and Ivan Vanko.
"For the security tapes, I managed to capture the face of someone who passed the gate to the prison just mere minutes before you," Jarvis continued. "According to my analysis, this is Liam Hawthorne. He's 19 years old and lived in New York."
"Go on," Tony said, twirling a pencil between his fingers.
"He lived with his grandfather, Harold Bennet. Approximately two years ago, both he and his grandfather disappeared. Only occasional sightings of Liam have occurred since, while Harold Bennet appears to have vanished entirely," Jarvis explained. "These sightings match a troubling pattern."
"What do you mean?" Tony asked.
"In early 2008, a person with a 93% facial match was seen in London near the scene of an explosion inside an old factory that killed several people. And a terrible murder occurred the same day with extremely graphic details." Jarvis started, while showing the files on the casualties.
"In late 2008, days before your confrontation with Obadiah, Liam was spotted checking into a hotel near the incident. His bank card confirms the transaction."
"A few months ago, a car accident claimed the life of one civilian and severely injured another. Several posts on some smaller news channels attributed the event to a man in gray armor fitting the description pulled from the fight livestreamed in Monaco. These claims were quickly dismissed as unrealistic online."
Jarvis displayed images of the car wrecks and a hospitalized man who claimed a "monster" had attacked him.
"However, Liam was spotted in the same city earlier that day and moments before the accident. Surveillance shows him running down a street, turning a corner just out of view."
Jarvis played a video of Liam sprinting down the street.
"Sir, he also purchased tickets for the Expo next week. I expect him to be in the audience."
Tony nodded, deep in thought, when Rhodey knocked on the door.
"Tony, you need to get upstairs and deal with this situation now," Rhodey said, entering the room.
---
Meanwhile, Liam had just finished a hot shower in a hotel near Flushing Meadows, New York.
"That call with Coulson was awkward, especially when Fury took over," Liam said with a shudder. "For a bald, one-eyed man, he sure has a lot to say," he mused, recalling Fury's words:
"You've become a problem—a problem I have to deal with and cover for."
"Total nonsense, of course. If he knew what the future like I do, I'm sure he would've made the same choices," Liam thought, pulling a T-shirt over his head. "But I can't just go around claiming to know the future. Who would believe me? And even if they would have, why should I tell them?"
Liam wanted to wait out the Stark Expo, not wanting to bother picking Tony up from his own vomit at his birthday party.
"I've been working my ass off lately. After the Expo, I'll get back to full-time training. For now, I'll take a little time to relax. But just because I'm resting doesn't mean I'll do nothing," Liam thought.
"I have some new ideas for Incursio I want to write down and test later. In the meantime, I'll visit Grandpa a few times since the last time I've seen him was months ago, and maybe treat myself to some expensive restaurants," he continued.
The next week flew by. Liam visited his grandfather several times, finding him loving his peaceful life in the countryside. The neighbors were kind, and the community was based on helping each other.
During his visits, the birthday fiasco happened. Liam and his grandfather laughed at the news clips of Tony's birthday fiasco, the footage recorded by guests were hilarious to see. ''Not everyday you see a multi-billionaire throw up all over himself.'' Liam mused.
As the week came to an end, only a few hours before the Stark Expo. Liam settled his hotel bill with cash before heading out. Over the week, he had made sure that his face remained hidden from camera's and that all bills were paid in cash to avoid attracting Tony's attention.
"Knowing Tony's character from the movies, he'd probably bust my door down, demanding to know why I executed Ivan," Liam mused as he left the building.
"By now, Tony should've had his talk with Fury," Liam thought, still amused by the viral pictures of Tony eating donuts inside the giant donut at Rolling Donuts that surfaced days two days after his birthday.
"With that talk, he should've discovered a new element already. I'm curious how things will change now that Ivan's dead. Without Ivan, does Justin Hammer stand a chance of creating something functional?"
"To be fair, Hammer still has access to the War Machine suit Tony gave to Rhodey. But without Ivan, there's no hacked suit. Everything should be fine," Liam thought as he neared the Expo venue.