Okay, so I find that I'm more linear than I expected, and I can't just jump to post-Avengers yet. This'll be something to bring us to Avengers. This has been slower going than I thought; I took home a freelance project this weekend and it's occupying a lot of my time!

I didn't want to just leave Pepper and Tony off from where I left them after my previous fic, "IM2: Epilogue." The process of them becoming a couple is fascinating to me and I want to go into that some more.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters

"Do you choose to continue being Iron Man because you're still guilty about what Stark Industries was manufacturing for so many years?" Pepper asks Tony. They've been enjoying their last night in Venice, mostly in bed, and she's tucked against his side, his arm around her. He drums his fingers absently against his RT, thinking that this is the most serious conversation he's had after mind-blowing sex.

"That's part of it," he says. He's never had to put his reasons into words for someone. "My weapons, in the hands of the wrong people, have hurt and killed innocent people. I should've known what Obi was doing with Stark Industries, and I was too comfortable with developing more weapons and making billions off of them. I didn't care, and I put too much trust in the wrong person."

"It's not your fault, Tony," she says. "Obadiah fooled all of us." She didn't think he'd open up and actually talk about it. Tony, for all the bravado he shows to the public, keeps a lot to himself (case in point, the whole dying via palladium poisoning secret). She'd been wanting to ask this question ever since he'd announced his alter ego to the world, but never found the right time to ask. Pepper figured that now they'd gone from boss-employee to lovers, she was entitled to some answers.

"I know it's not all my fault," he says, "but I contributed with my ignorance. Afghanistan opened my eyes, and I finally grew up. Emerged from my iron cocoon, so to speak. Become the iron butterfly I was always meant to be."

"You're so ridiculous sometimes," Pepper said, pinching him. Trust Tony to take a flippant turn with a serious conversation. "So what's the other part of it?"

"You rejected me before the press conference, and I figured that becoming a superhero would impress you enough to forgive me for leaving you on the roof that night," he said, pressing a kiss to her hair.

"Anthony Edward Stark, are you telling me that your decision to fly around in a metal suit and dodge bullets is my fault?" she said in that serious tone. Tony actually enjoys it when she starts scolding him; he thinks she's adorable when she's mad at him.

"I admit it didn't work as quickly as I would've liked," he said, running a hand down her back, "but I've got a naked Pepper Potts in my arms, so it was worth the wait."

She doesn't have a response to that immediately. She'd rather not have to worry about Tony dying while wearing the suit, but she has to admit that he's right about changing and finding a purpose. And a woman can't help but be flattered when a man makes himself into a superhero to impress you. Even if she's just part of the reason he's doing it.

"I hope that your future attempts to impress me are less grandiose and result in less e-mails from PR," she said, pushing herself up on her elbow so he could see her face in the glow from his RT. She wanted him to see her smiling face and be reassured that she supported him, and was proud of him. "It's not easy for me to see you fly off into danger, but it helps to understand why you do what you do, finally."

"Tony Stark does not do anything but grand gestures," he said, cupping her face and kissing her. "You'll just have to deal with it."

She smiled, "I always do."