"You want anything?" Tony looked over at Pepper as they were driving up to the fast food window. Happy was in the front seat, and Tony sat with Pepper in the back. Just seeing her sit there made Tony truly realize how much he had missed her more than anyone when he was in captivity.

"No…" she said, taking a deep breath. Tony took a sideways glance at her.

"Why are you being so quiet?" he asked her, lightly nudging her arm. Pep looked down at the floor of the car before looking up at Tony with big eyes.

"You really should be going to the hospital…" she said. Tony groaned and threw his head back.

"I'm fine really!" he said rolling his head to glance at her. "Come on, brighten up. I kind of just came back from the dead, you're not allowed to be stubborn."

"I'm not being the stubborn one!" she snapped back. Tony smiled slightly. He knew it probably just ticked her off more, but he had even missed her voice when she was snapping at him.

"Okay, okay…" Tony said, shifting in his seat. The car had just pulled up to the speaker where Happy rolled down the window to order Tony's cheeseburger.

"What, you'll go?" Pepper said hopefully. Tony snickered.

"Ha, no." he said, making her sigh and roll her eyes. "But I'll tell you why I won't."

Pepper was silent for a while as she stared out the window. The car began moving forward once more to the window. Tony watched his PA who had ended up being the person he had cared about most. He just wished that someday he could tell her that.

"Well?" Pepper said, waiting as she turned to look at Tony.

"Don't freak out, alright?" he asked.

"Well now I'm not sure if I really want to know…" Pepper said. Tony chuckled and shook his head.

"Okay, so I was hit with some shrapnel before I was taken. I don't know much about what happened because I was unconscious, but I do know that it was ordered of this guy to keep me alive. To do this, he put a magnet of types... in my chest…" Tony paused, trying to find the right words. In the meanwhile, Pepper was staring at him in shock.

"Anyways, I upgraded it so it's now a mini arc reactor like the one that powers the house…" Tony explained. Pepper's face looked extremely confused for a moment.

"You mean 'it's now' as in, it's in your chest… right now…" Pepper said. Tony nodded and moved his hand to his chest to trace the hard edge of the reactor. Pepper looked in amazement at the shape of the reactor that was barely noticeable through Tony's shirt.

"Okay, agreed… No hospital right now." she said. Tony smiled at her. She glanced up, just barely making eye contact to smile as well before she turned to face forwards again. Tony fixed his jacket around his shirt to hide the arc reactor even more. He didn't want to reveal too much at the press conference, only what he was planning to about shutting down the weapons production. He wouldn't tell that to Pepper though, she would find out soon enough.

~X~

"You are insane." Pepper plainly said as they walked out from the conference. "I- I honestly try to prepare myself for nuts things that you do, but I was not expecting that."

"So you totally agree, then?" Tony asked, smiling at her. She rolled her eyes and smiled just a little.

"I guess you could say that… The press and stories are going to take forever to die down though, and the stocks will-"

"Plummet, I know." Tony interrupted her. "Pep, I know, but I'm sure about this."

Pepper looked over at Tony with her gazing eyes again. Tony stared back, waiting for her to say something.

"Okay." was the only thing she said. Tony smiled and leaned back against the seat, exhausted.