Author's Note: I am looking for a better description for 8 Minutes Sanctuary. I had trouble coming up with one on my own, so I'm turning to you readers for an assist! If you have an idea for a story summary (382 characters or less), please make sure to leave it in a review! If your description is used, I promise I will make sure to credit you. Thank you and read on!

Author's Note II: Edited Version.

Prologue

In approximately five billion years, the hydrogen within the Sun's core will dissipate. By this stage in its life, the Sun would have already evolved into a spacious, yet weak, red giant. Once the hydrogen runs out, there will be nothing left to burn for nuclear fusion, so the Sun will die. The emitted poisonous gases will take eight minutes to reach Earth.

Tony knew this systematically.

The science was something he had to learn. He didn't already know that nuclear fusion had both exothermic and endothermic reactions. Neither did he know that the burning point of hydrogen was 932° Fahrenheit. He was not even aware of the fact that scientists had not yet found explanations for sunspots.

He hadn't known anything, really. He had been oblivious.

That was, however, until the day when he figured it all out.

He had finished the Mark. It was against the stone wall; just sitting there. But Tony couldn't sit, he continuously paced up and down the cave, ready, aching, for the right moment to escape. The previous night he had done all the calculations, finished all the math, revised each idea; he had known the exact second to strike.

But that day, he couldn't remember.

Alright, he had said to no one; he was alone, I'll go when I catch my breath.

But it was difficult to breath. Smoke from cigars fogged up the condensed air. The magnet in his chest made his lungs contract. The area where the metal carved the skin ached and burned. His feet were blistered and boiling. His fingernails hurt from being bitten too short.

He waited until his breathing evened out.

He started to recall fragments of his plan now that his gasps had subsided. He knew he had the potential to kill Yinsen if he were in the suit. And he knew that the best time to strike was as soon as the villain stepped out of his jeep. Yinsen would have no guards and no weapons; it would be the perfect moment.

Over the hum of the magnet in his chest, Tony listened at the speeding tread of rubber against dirt. From what he could hear, the jeep was traveling much faster than normal. He needed to act fast, very fast, or else he will miss the perfect shot.

He lurched for the suit against the wall. He tried and tried to haul it up from its seated position. But the Mark I would not budge. Now frantic, he grabbed it from under its arms and heaved, he heaved several times, and pulled and pulled until his veins began to bulge.

Tony's arms hurt. They were sore from tireless constructing, so pulling at the machine made it feel like his arms would wrench out from their sockets. And he was tired, so very tired. He couldn't lift it. But he kept heaving and yanking to the point when he could no longer feel his arms. His vision swam, and everything felt fuzzy.

That's when the jeep pulled up outside the cave. Tony knew he had missed his chance. But in that moment, he was completely oblivious to what would happen next.

"Tony?"

He spun around in his office chair, "What's up, Pussycat?"

Pepper Potts stood there, two cups of coffee in one hand and a balancing stack of papers in the other. She smiled at him as she placed down one of the coffee mugs, "I think Starbucks will sue if you ask for whiskey inside your coffee again. They are almost completely fed up with you, Mr. Stark."

"They don't have the money to sue me," Tony smiled, downing half the cup's contents in one gulp. He smirked as he looked to the other cup, "You brought me two? I love you."

"No, this one's for me," Pepper said as she filed through her paper mountain, pulling out certain packets and leaving others in place. Tony watched her concentrated eyes skim through the papers once more as she set them down on the desk.

"You need to confirm the calculating department's demands for next season's supplies to import. The branch in Singapore is requesting outsourcing to Malaysia, again. Also, take a look at Mrs. Hansen's ask for maternity leave."

Tony glanced at the papers. He frowned, "Casey Hansen or Bobbie Hansen?"

"Michelle Hansen."

"She's pregnant?"

"Yes. She's been pregnant for the last seven months."

"I thought she was lesbian."

"She and her wife used a surrogate father," Pepper said thoughtfully.

"Since when is it my responsibility to permit mommy time?"

"That's why you're looking at it, her boss won't let her off," she skimmed over her clipboard one last time, sipping her coffee. All at once, she jerked the cup away and exclaimed, "Oh!"

"Did Pepper burn herself?" Tony mused.

The assistant frowned teasingly, "As unfortunate as it must be to you, no. I was just looking over your schedule when I noticed that you have a 13:30 meeting with Lieutenant James Rhodes. It's labeled here as 'personal,'" Pepper smiled in her teasing sort of way, "Did you really invite James to Stark Tower for fun?"

"Pepper, we're planning on playing pool. And pool is not fun. It's a challenging and strategic game."

"You've never played before."

"I'm a quick learner."

"But on a Tuesday? Your most busy day of the week?"

"We have a very important topic to discuss," Tony huffed. Little did she know, he wasn't lying.

"Uh-huh. Sure," Pepper said as she gathered her things, "I'll leave you to it."

"Yes, go! Begone!" Tony whined, waving her away.

The clicking of her heels against the tile stopped as she paused in the doorway, looking back at him, "Oh, and Tony?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"I'm off for the rest of the month, remember?" she was trying to keep her voice levelled, clear of pity and concern.

Pepper didn't mean to pity him. She's sure that she probably has in the past, but she never liked making him feel weaker than her (though it was true, as far as she knew.) She was aware that Tony had difficulty in managing himself. He never ate correctly, slept correctly, or even dressed correctly.

She mostly counted these imperfections as something caused by his rugged personality. But she has noticed, of course, the spiked increase of his self-destructive activities within the past three years. The three years, she might add, since he's returned from Afghanistan.

Tony had never spoken of what had happened back in Afghanistan. Since he came back, Tony had kept his mouth sealed shut. The only thing he admitted to had something to do with a kind man with blue eyes; irrelevant information was most likely just made up by Tony's feverous imagination. Though he never spoke, Pepper could assume what happened to him based on his scars and behaviors. She didn't like what her imagination had to offer.

Despite her apprehension, she was undoubtedly aware of how strong Tony had become because of his experiences. She knew for certain that he was capable of taking care of himself, even though he struggled. The only problem was that Tony didn't know it.

Pepper didn't want to leave him by himself. They were dear friends; she knew how he would behave. But she was forced to retreat to her childhood home on a familial matter. Her elderly parents were falling behind on mortgages and were in desperate need of help. Pepper's loyalty to her family surpassed that of Tony's.

Of course she loved him, she really did. But her parents needed her, and Tony was fine as of now.

"What?"

Pepper winced, "It's only for a month."

"Yeah, but, a whole month?"

"You'll be fine, Tony," Pepper promised.

"But… who will bring me coffee?"

Pepper bit her tongue, "Do you remember when I trained that college student on personal assistance?"

"I recall the concept," Tony drawled dumbly.

"Well, his name is Peter Parker and he will be filling in for me, starting tomorrow."

Tony smacked his forehead on his desk, "I don't wanna babysit."

"I know. Babysitting will be Mr. Parker's job," Pepper forced a smile as she opened the door, "Good luck, Tony."

"Get lost, ex-best friend," Tony grumbled, stirring the coffee and whiskey around in his mug. The coffee grounds had sunk to the bottom and the whiskey had gone lukewarm. Tony downed it anyway.

"Wanna know a secret?"

"Sure."

"First time I was invited to play pool, I dressed in swim trunks and goggles," Tony said as he watched Rhodey score more points.

"I'm not surprised. When the governor asked you to play mini-golf, you brought a five-centimeter club," Rhodey said, smirking as another striped ball fell into a hole.

"Hey, that was an improvement!" Tony defended, "The first time I was told to bring a golf-club, I borrowed my middle school's literal Golf Club."

"Man, who joins a club for golf?" Rhodey chuckled, shaking his head, "'sides you, I mean."

"I was never in a golf club! I was in Junior Robotics, Financial Literacy, Tae-Kwon-Do, Quidditch Masters, Thundercat Fanboys, and the Rubix Solvers!"

"I don't doubt it for a second. Except maybe the Financial Literacy one."

Tony hit a ball into the goal, "I did it!"

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did! See look-"

"That's the white ball."

"Was I not supposed to-"

"-Look, Tones. What is this about? You ain't never invited me for pool before. What bullcrap do you need from me this time?" Rhodey asked, arms crossed.

Tony's spine straightened. Not finding the right words to say, Tony let his gaze flicker from Rhodey's left and right eyes; both were equally blank.

"Don't tell me this is about..." Rhodey began.

"Yeah," Tony said, "Him."

"Who's 'him?'"

"I told you. Over the phone last night."

"You were drunk over the phone last night."

"Correction, I was sober. That's why I was acting high."

"That's not what-" Rhoder took in a sharp breath through his nose, "Last night, you said something about finding somebody. From Afghanistan."

"Yeah. Thought you could-"

"If I could help you find him?"

"That's right."

Rhodey's frown furrowed. He placed his hands on his hips, and looked upwards as he thought aloud, "What in Sam's Name makes you think that I would be able to help you?"

"His coat."

"Pardon me?"

"He was wearing a US military jacket. Army."

Rhodey's jaw dropped, "He's with the army?"

Tony nodded, solemnly. He hugged the pool pole against his chest.

The lieutenant was glaring, "He's with the army? You waited three years to tell me that crucial detail?"

Tony was silent.

"Why, Tony? Why did you not tell me before?" he demanded.

"His army jacket…"

"Yes. Why did you not tell me before?"

"I didn't want to leave him there," Tony breathed, "I-I didn't want.. they-they wanted me to remember, but I didn't want to. I wanted to forget.. His army jacket.. He knew, he was the one who told me first, about the Sun, he did. So, yeah, so that's the thing, I guess..."

Rhodey frowned, no longer out of anger, but out of remorse. It was clear he was pressuring him too much. It was even more clear that he wouldn't get anything solid out of Tony, at least not for a while.

"Okay, Tony. Okay," Rhodey breathed, "I'll come back tomorrow with my computer. We can look into it then. For now, let's get back to pool."

"Pepper's junior assistant starts tomorrow," Tony said robotically.

"She... or he can help us, too," Rhodey said, unsure if that was the right answer.

Tony's face was blank, "Rhodey?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Which balls do I put in which holes?"

"Never ever word a question about pool like that again."