AN: This fic presented itself to me while I was listening to the song "Hurricane" by 30 Seconds to Mars. That song asks a really good question, which I felt the need to address. Please excuse the lack of detail in the beginning, since it's not the focus of the story.

It had all started off innocently enough.

A police broadcast that Tony had received via the com system reporting a robbery in progress at a warehouse on the East Side. With thirty minutes left of class and a monotone lecture, Tony excused himself to the restroom.

One thing lead to the next, and three hours later Tony found himself tied up to a pole, Pepper and Rhodey facing a similar predicament about twenty paces away. He struggled against the thick electrical wire to humor his opponent, the Controller, who looked rather pleased with himself. A few random people milled around, collecting boxes and papers and piling them in a corner. Each one had a chip on the back of their neck. Tony mentally scolded himself for more or less inventing the retched things.

"See, Iron Man, I now have you, and two new slaves." The man slipped his slender hands into his pockets, fishing out two controller disks. He approached Rhodey and Pepper, hands groping out, but was not fast enough.

Tony ripped free of his bonds, aiming both repulsors at the Controller, who flinched. "Do it and die, Controller," Tony growled in his metallic voice.

As the words fell from his mouth, two guns were aimed at his friends' heads. "Kill me and kill them," the Controller countered.

Without a second of hesitation, Tony shot down the two slaves with the guns—not with enough energy to kill them, of course—then turned back to the Controller.

"Now what were you saying?"

The Controller laughed mirthlessly, then whipped out a gun and aimed it at Rhodey. Or Pepper. Tony couldn't tell.

"It seems we've come to an impasse, Iron Man." He quirked an eyebrow, smiling deviously.

"And that's where your wrong," Tony replied, and in a split second he was mask-to-face with the Controller, his palm pressed to the opposite man's temple. "If your trigger finger even flinches, it's bye-bye head."

"Iron Man," Pepper growled, raising a disapproving eyebrow.

"Excuse me miss, but this doesn't concern you," Tony replied, rather shortly.

The sound of the repulsor charging up echoed through the warehouse.

"Iron Man, no!" Pepper shouted as the Controller dropped the gun. It clattered to the floor, and Tony dropped one hand to his side. He then proceeded to hit the man over the head, watching indifferently as he crumpled to the floor.

Cutting Rhodey and Pepper free, he said, "Help me get the chips off these guys." While Rhodey complied, Pepper stayed rooted to her spot, arms crossed. Tony tossed a sideways glance at her, but chalked it up to her usual dramatics in near-death situations.

When all was cleaned up and the police were alerted, Tony turned to Pepper, who hadn't left the pole. "Want me to fly you home?"

She scoffed. "I'll walk, thank you very much." With that, she stalked out of the warehouse.

Taken aback, he looked back at Rhodey. "You need me to fly you?"

His brother shook his head. "I'll take a cab. See you at home," he said airily, then left.

So Tony flew back to the armory by himself.

He was seated on the floor, in the middle of sketching the schematics of an armor prototype when the armory door slid open and Pepper stormed in, fuming. Mildly startled, Tony glanced up at her, trying to conceal his surprise.

"What's up?"

She looked at him darkly. "What's up? What's up? Tony, I nearly got killed today!"

Tony stood up, rolling his stiff shoulders back. Man, I needed to stretch. He crossed over to Pepper, standing a safe distance away. "And?"

She pursed her lips. "And you, you nearly killed a man!"

"I wasn't going to kill him," Tony said, exasperated. He'd known she was upset, but he wasn't aware it was over something so trivial.

"Oh really? Then why didn't you stop when I yelled at you?"

"I want to strike fear into my enemy's heart." He clasped a fist over his chest, which swelled with his usual bravado.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Oh, spare me."

"Weren't you going home?" Tony queried randomly.

"What does it matter?" she snapped. Suddenly her demeanor changed, and she stepped closer to him, her eyes abruptly apprehensive. "Tony, would you kill someone?"

Tony's stormy eyes widened. "No," he said defensively, looking at the floor where his abandoned drawing lay, half finished. Anything to avoid Pepper's prowling eyes.

"Tony," she said again, softer.

He looked into the distance behind her, his lips twitching. "Maybe," then quickly adding, "It depends on the circumstances."

"It's a yes or no question," she amended.

Tony sighed heavily, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yes."

He could tell she was surprised. Maybe even a little frightened. Her eyes narrowed, like she had somehow been betrayed. Like he had lied to her. "Would you lose sleep over it?"

"No."

Pepper's brow crinkled, making Tony's heart drop. Her sadness was evident in the way her shoulders drooped, the way the corner of her mouth tugged down slightly. Her amber eyes searched him, like they were looking for something from the old Tony that remained. Apparently, the search was fruitless, for she turned her back and began to walk out of the armory when he called out after her.

"I would lose sleep. I would feel horrible. I would have taken someone's son or daughter away, someone's sister or brother or cousin. But I wouldn't feel even a fraction of how tremendously grievous I would feel if it were you. If you died, I don't know what I would do, so if I killed someone, it would be because they were going to take you away from me."

Pepper froze in her tracks, and Tony suddenly realized what he had admitted.

"Or Rhodey. Or Roberta," he added awkwardly. "The point is, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you died and I could have prevented it. I would kill to save your life."

Pepper whirled around and dove into his arms, snuggling against his chest. Tony wasn't quite sure why she was suddenly so affectionate, but he didn't dare question it. He relaxed into her embrace, smiling crookedly.

She giggled half-heartedly into his shirt. "I'd kill to save you, too."

Voila! Reviews are much appreciated ^_^