The Tape

by Snoot37

The directors of IM3 said that they toyed with the idea of Pepper hooking up with Killian, who would later broadcast a tape of it in a store, as a subplot to the movie. Terrible idea of course. But how would that scenario have actually played out? Could eventual Pepperony come of it? Warning for mature themes and borderline non-consentual situations.

2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow, the response to this one has certainly been interesting! This story sure has struck a nerve in some people, and to those who it is affecting negatively, I am sorry. Not every story is everyone's cup of tea. To those who have sent support and kudos, thanks so much! But seriously, I welcome all comments, both positive and negative. It helps me grow and develop. Remember, this one isn't finished yet. I expect maybe one more chapter. And I promise, I'm not always such a downer. My next story is probably going to be a bit more lighthearted. Anyway, chapter two, enjoy!

The Tape part 2

Tony would allow himself to cry later, he figured, after he was in bed, minus her beside him. He still couldn't believe this was happening. Surely this entire night had been a bad dream? Despite a few flaws, his new Mark 42 suit was behaving as he had hoped it would, and even though he had brushed off date night with Pepper, he had no idea this mess was going to be hitting him when she got home. Was she really that unhappy with him? He didn't want to admit how badly this entire scenario was affecting him, none the least of which because it was his worst fears confirmed. After he had managed to pull his head out of his ass after Afghanistan and re-prioritize his life, he had seen how truly lucky he was to have someone like Pepper stand by him all the years she had. That she had finally consented to becoming romantically involved with him was truly astounding, given what he had put her through and continued to. When he thought about it, he truly couldn't understand why she hadn't taken off, finally fed up with him.

Now it seemed that she had done just that, if only in a moment of weakness. But her obvious upset about the whole thing had him wondering. What if she truly had been drugged? Shouldn't he be supporting her more? After all, if she wasn't in control of herself, it was essentially assault. But she had said it was consentual. He dropped his face into his hands and tried to ignore the ache in his heart. Was it over between them? Could he handle it? His anger would carry him through a breakup, he knew, but eventually his anger would fade and leave him with something much worse: loneliness. He didn't want to let her go, and she didn't seem to want to leave. But where could they go from this? He shook his head to clear it and tried to get back to work, even knowing he would be too distracted to truly get anything done.

He didn't know how long he had been re-soldering the same circuit board when

JARVIS piped up, "Sir, I think you should probably know, it has been nearly an hour and twenty minutes and Ms. Potts is still in the shower. She has scrubbed herself four times in a row and is now just sitting on the bench. Aside from the fact that she has already more than violated the state's water rationing laws, and seems to be trying to drown herself, my resources indicate that her behavior is not unlike those of sexual assault survivors who feel the need to 'cleanse' themselves. It is a psychological factor that you should be aware of. I have already informed her that I will be cutting off the water and she should consider going to bed, but I thought you should know."

"Thanks JARVIS," said Tony, somewhat tonelessly. His heart ached even more. He wanted to run up to her and throw his arms around her, but he just couldn't. He hated himself, but he was still so confused. How could he comfort her not even knowing how he felt himself about this entire thing? What could he say to her, that everything was OK? It wasn't. That he didn't mind? He did. That he would support her if she had been drugged? She didn't seem like she had been. God what a mess this was.

A few hours later, he finally emerged from the workshop into the living room and noticed that, despite the late hour, a very dim light was on near the sofa. Pepper was asleep on the sofa near the far wall. He walked over to her and looked down. She was so beautiful, especially when she was asleep, that he felt his entire being twist and ache for her. He already missed her, and it had only been a few hours of this. How was he going to make it through the night? With a sigh, he brushed her hair back from her forehead, and pulled the afghan over her shoulders, and then decisively turned and walked up the stairs.

He might as well have stayed downstairs in his lab for all the sleep he was getting, Tony thought to himself irritably. He tossed and turned and finally rolled onto his stomach and forced himself to keep his eyes closed and not stare at the ceiling. The bed beside him was cold and empty and it wasn't helping his insomnia problem. How could he be so angry at her, hurt and mystified, and still miss her presence next to him, snoring lightly or her arm thrown over him? He had grown used to her presence in his life and any absence of her stung hard and added to his heartache.

Was she truly asleep downstairs, instead of wide awake like him, not feeling the same hurt he was feeling? He remembered her anguish lying on the floor of the bathroom, and JARVIS telling him that she had taken an hour and a half long somber shower. She was probably exhausted from that, to say nothing of her 'activities' earlier. He tried not to think about it, but images of her in another man's arms came unbidden to torture him and add to his anguish. He had looked up Aldrich Killian after Happy's video call reminding him that they had already met the man years ago, and images of his face flashed through Tony's mind.

Had she enjoyed it? Arched her back in orgasm as she did with him? Had they kissed? Done more? Did she want Killian again?

Stop it! He yelled at himself mentally. You don't deserve this, stop doing this to yourself!

He pounded his fist into the pillow and buried his face to stifle a moan of hurt. The images tried to return but he forced himself to think of anything else, from jet engine coolant systems, to the intricacies of the circuit board he was working on, to Pepper beneath him on the beach just two weeks ago, minus her swimsuit, gasping in ecstasy as he thrust into her as the waves washed over them. Oh great, now he was getting hard on top of everything. And it was becoming uncomfortable. Suddenly JARVIS's soft voice came from the ceiling, just above a murmur.

"Excuse me, sir, but I see you have been awake for some time now and I knew you would not want to wait until morning. I have the results of Ms. Potts' bloodwork," the A.I. said.

Tony sat upright. "Well?" he asked. "What did you find?"

"As near as I can determine," said JARVIS, "aside from a blood alcohol level consistent with around half a martini, as Ms. Potts indicated she consumed, there are no recognizable synthetic chemicals in her bloodstream. In short, no sign of the date rape drug or any other chemical that could act in a similar manner."

Tony felt his shoulders slump and the wind go out of him hard for a second time that night. He had so been hoping there would be something, anything that could excuse Pepper's indiscretion, as she seemed to hope there would be. Were it not for the fact that Pepper was terrible at bluffing or lying, he would write off her insistence for a blood test as some desperate ploy to try and convince him she had been drugged and had not chosen to cheat on him of her own volition. The only thing was that wasn't Pepper's style. She had come straight home and told him about it. If she were that prone to that level of deception, and willing to go through with a major round of blood tests, she must have truly felt something would be found, or else she would not have mentioned her actions with Killian at all. It just didn't make sense. The only logical explanation was that she had indeed been given leave of her senses. Could she have been hypnotized or something? But then, JARVIS continued.

"This is not to say there were no anomalies, however," the A.I. continued.

"You found something?" Tony asked, perking up.

"Indeed, something very odd," said JARVIS. "I noticed that there were some extremely high levels of estrogen and testosterone in Ms. Potts' system, much higher than normal. In fact, her levels were seven time the normal amount when a woman is ovulating, which is considered the time when a human female's libido would be at its highest. There also seems to be some indication, given her adrenal levels and activity in her pituitary glands that this rapid release of estrogen happened very quickly, as if she were exposed to some sort of pheromone, which triggered the rapid sexual response. I also found heightened amounts of oxytocin, which usually indicates sexual arousal, but should have abated following cessation of sexual activity, and fairly rapidly as well. That she had such levels in her system nearly an hour after...activity, would seem to indicate that they were nearly three times the amount during. This could also have been due to heavy exposure to pheromones."

"I thought human pheromones didn't exist?" asked Tony.

"They exist in other species similar to humans," said JARVIS. "It is not that they don't exist, it is that they have not been identified yet by science.

Studies have already shown that human infants can smell the identifying smell of their mothers, that women can smell a man's sexual intention towards them, and that women who occupy the same living space often have synchronized menstrual cycles, that would indicate some form of pheromone. Such chemicals are known to be heavily involved in behavior modification, especially in insects and animals in a mating ritual. Pheromones can be a powerful method of altering behavior as well. Beekeepers often make use of pheromones to alter the behavior of their hives, and hunters use pheromones to drawn in prey who would otherwise avoid the area. Pheromones that drive sexual behavior can be very powerful, overwhelmingly so."

"Yeah but Pepper's not a bee," said Tony with irritation. "Humans can control our instincts, pheromones or not. Are you saying she *was* drugged, with some as-of-yet undiscovered human pheromone that altered her behavior?"

"It would be impossible to say without further tests, sir," said JARVIS. "We would not know what to look for, we can only test her physiological responses. Something triggered her heightened estrogen response, and it would not be mere attraction to a man in the normal sense. It would have had to be some synthetic factor we are not detecting with normal blood tests that would trigger an estrogen level seven times the normal amount. Something also drove her erstwhile unprecedented behavior, as we can agree that infidelity is not normal behavior for Ms. Potts. Yes, humans have control over their instincts: when they know what they are dealing with. If Ms. Potts had no indication that she was being influenced by any outside force, she would not have been able to present a mental guard against it. Furthermore, pheromones are delivered via olfactory nerve, which is an immediate link to the brain. The effects would have been instantaneous, and overwhelming, especially if delivered in an enclosed space such as the headquarters meeting room, or the alcove of the café in which she met Mr. Killian. Incidentally, I have acquired and destroyed all local security footage of that area. A testing of the air vent filters in the conference room might be in order, although I expect such chemicals would have dissipated by now."

"So was she drugged or not?" asked Tony.

"Until further notice, it would seem reasonable to deduct that she indeed was," replied JARVIS. "However, the only proof of that is in the odd reactions of her system in the form of elevated, but normal, chemicals in her bloodstream. There is no evidence of out-of-the-ordinary chemicals in her system at present. This leaves us only to conjecture, I'm afraid. In other words, there is around an 80% chance that yes, she was indeed drugged with some new, and undetectable, natural pheromone chemical, but it is not testable and it is unprovable at this point. We must simply ask ourselves, do we believe what she says? Voice stress analysis that I run on all who enter the premises did not indicate that she was being untruthful. And I have enough data on Ms. Pott's voice habits over the last decade to be reasonably assured of that result. It should also be taken into account that she did not attempt to hide the infidelity from you, but instead came in and immediately told you. I can assure you, her emotional responses were real, given her elevated heart rate and blood pressure. She was truly upset. Her pupil dilation and vocal tones at the mention of the possibility of being assaulted and drugged indicated she truly believed her statement to that effect. Her elevated hormones past the point of natural occurrence indicates that she was exposed to some out of the ordinary, synthetic event. Her uncharacteristic behavior is what would be expected of someone not in full control of her senses, especially if exposed to a behavior altering chemical. Her disgust at the event, once removed from the situation, would indicate that her behavior is atypical for the situation, once she is no longer exposed to the behavior altering chemical that allowed the behavior in the first place. All of these would, logically, point to an exterior factor in her behavior, and thus her behavior should not be considered normal in this case. It would be up to you to decide how you would like to proceed from this point. I would only ask you this: if I had found Rhopynol in her system, would you feel the same irritation towards her behavior?"

"Of course not," snapped Tony. "The date rape drug renders someone incapacitated. It isn't their fault after that point."

"In theory," said JARVIS, "A synthetic pheromone essentially does the same thing. Only consider this, sir: consider how insidious such a chemical as an aerosol delivered synthetic sex pheromone could truly be? Instead of merely causing a woman to pass out from a detectable drug, now a perpetrator could deliver a synthetic pheromone via aerosol method that disperses rapidly, which would then cause her natural libido to rise, her inhibitions to fall, and she would then 'consent' to behavior she otherwise would not consent to. Only once it was over and she was away, she would immediately feel regret and disgust, for the same reason any rape victim would. She would feel as if the choice, a choice made of sound mind, had been removed from her. Only instead of sympathy from law enforcement, she would only be met with disbelief, if she reported it at all. She would have to answer 'yes' to the question of 'did you consent to the activity?' when in fact, she was incapacitated and did not know it. She would harbor feelings of guilt for consenting, not knowing that she actually did not. She would feel as if she were at fault for the activity, when she had, in fact, been drugged to do it. Law enforcement would not be on her side, as the activity would appear consentual. The pheromones are not currently detectable, and elevated hormones are not part of a standard chemical blood analysis. They would be looking for drugs and would find nothing. It is a truly frightening concept, when you think about it, sir. And consider your own situation with Ms. Potts. Already, you question her on a personal level. How many other relationships would suffer because of such an invention? Furthermore, it is worth noting, that AIM is engaged in bio-research engineering. This is entirely the sort of thing their laboratories would come up with, and AIM is no stranger to unethical research. According to my analysis of Ms. Potts' tablet notes, her meeting with Mr. Killian today indicated that Stark Industries would not partner with AIM's current research due to her suspicion that Mr. Killian and AIM had proceeded with human testing without FDA approval, and Stark Industries does not need such associations that could come with a Federal investigation. Ethics does not seem to be of much concern to Mr. Killian."

Tony was floored by JARVIS' reasoning. It was true that such a potential drug as an undetectable pheromone-based date rape drug could wreak serious havoc in the dating scene, amongst rapists and for law enforcement. Furthermore, if Pepper had indeed been incapacitated in this manner, then it would seem the entire purpose had been purely for retaliation on Killian's part. Without the evidence that Pepper had been exposed to a behavior altering chemical of some sort, it would appear that she had simply cheated on Tony, which ensured a serious wrench, possibly even a breakup, in their relationship. For Killian, this would be poetic justice. It would mean getting even for Stark Industries (Pepper's) refusal to fund AIM's research, for Tony's professional rejection of him in Bern 12 years ago, for Pepper's personal romantic rejection of him when she worked at AIM, and to test to see if the substance actually worked, which would result in Killian getting laid and having a go at Pepper, which is what he had always wanted. Aside from the lack of funding for his projects, the whole scenario looked pretty good from Killian's position. It might even result in a breakup between Tony and Pepper, which would be very public and very embarrassing for both of them, once the reason why got out. It was, essentially, the perfect revenge.

Tony felt cold, overpowering rage flood his veins as the prospect. He was so angry he began to shake, causing JARVIS to ask if he was ok. He replied that he was, and carefully forced himself to lie down, lest he get up and start breaking things. He did some of the deep breathing yoga exercises Pepper had taught him, and felt himself slowly beginning to calm down. He wasn't completely certain yet whether or not he believed Pepper was guiltless in all of this. It still seemed to him that on some level she should have been able to resist, pheromones or not. And yet, if JARVIS' theory was correct, she had been subjected to a situation no different than having been drugged and raped. JARVIS was right about one thing: if she had been drugged and assaulted, Tony would feel very differently. He would not even be considering holding her to blame for anything, and would be on the phone with the police reporting Killian for rape. He would also be downstairs holding her, comforting her. No, he wouldn't be downstairs at all, he would be right here, with her in the bed with him, holding her and comforting her.

With a sigh, he knew he should not have told her to leave their bed. At the time, it seemed a reasonable course of action, but until they knew for sure what had truly happened, he should not do anything that would damage their relationship any further. He got up, and carefully walked down the stairs, padding over to the sofa where she lay, still asleep. He almost smiled at the messy mop of red hair that tumbled over her head, hiding half of her face as she slept. He brushed her hair back from her face and watched her face, though peaceful in sleep, still bearing the expression of being troubled. He pulled the blanket back from her body, and slid his arms under her knees and shoulders, lifting her against his chest. His heart ached at the feeling of her warm body against his. His heart pounded and his groin tightened, but he forced himself to remain steady. Now was simply not the time. He walked towards the elevator, careful not to disturb her.

He managed to make it to the doorway of the bedroom before she stirred, blinked, then opened her eyes for good and looked around in surprise.

"Tony, wha-?" she grumbled. "What's going on?"

"Shhh, go back to sleep," he said gently, laying her down on her side of the bed and pulling the blanket over her.

"I thought, you said, I thought you didn't want..." she stammered.

"I don't know what I want," said Tony. "I just know I don't want to make even more mistakes about this. Go to sleep, we'll talk in the morning." He crawled into bed next to her, not touching her, but not shrinking away either.

"Did JARVIS find something?" she asked.

"Yes, he did, but not what we were expecting," Tony answered. Briefly, he gave her a summary of what JARVIS had said, and instructed the A.I. to upload his findings and summary to her tablet for review in the morning.

"So I *was* drugged?" she asked darkly.

"We're just not sure," Tony replied. "It looks that way. I just don't know."

Pepper turned away on her side, stifling a sob. "So if JARVIS hadn't found what he did, would I still be sleeping on the couch?"

Tony felt a flash of anger, coupled with a flash of hurt. He swallowed it down and moved towards her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She tensed at his touch, then relaxed. Apparently she wasn't sure how she should respond either.

"I just don't know, Pep," he said, not bothering to hide the woe from his voice. "I just know we're in no condition to discuss it rationally now. Let's sleep on this and deal with it in the morning, OK?"

"OK," she whispered, letting a few tears fall. She breathed a deep sigh, and then settled back down into a restless sleep. Tony followed soon after, both of them grateful for the dreamless sleep that followed.

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The next morning was no less strained between the two of them, even with JARVIS' revelations, mostly because there was no clear evidence that there was truly something amiss. Pepper maintained that she was not even considering Killian as an alternative to Tony and could not understand her actions the day before. Tony wanted to believe she had been drugged in some way, but the newness of pheromone technology, if it even existed, was making it difficult, especially since his own pride and ego was hurt at her infidelity, whatever caused it. Thankfully the next day was Saturday and while they spent the morning not exactly avoiding each other, but retreating to their separate spots in the house where they threw themselves into their respective workloads, Pepper was grateful for Tony's suggestion that they walk down to their favorite hole in the wall beachside restaurant a mile down the road for dinner as a change of pace. The familiar atmosphere caused them both to relax a little, and they talked of neutral topics on the way back home as a means of breaking the ice. That evening was spent on the sofa in Tony's workshop watching some of their favorite mutual programs, but not talking much about the elephant in the room. That night they slept in the same bed again, but there was little contact, and both were starting to feel the strain of their emotional separation, if not a physical one.

The next morning, Pepper made breakfast smoothies, and finally broached the topic, knowing they had had enough time to try and discuss it rationally.

"So what do you want to do about this?" she asked with hesitation.

Tony sighed. "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Pepper responded, "I feel like a hypocrite for saying it, after the lecture I gave you when we first got involved about cheating on me and how I planned to handle it if you did. I never thought the tables would be turned like this. I'm still not even sure I was in my right mind and that they should be. It's not clear cut that I did or did not make a conscious decision to do anything, and I'm not sure how far the repercussions should go. Part of me feels like I should be held accountable, part of me says it's not my fault. Whichever of those is true means two very different appropriate responses to this situation for me. I do know this, though. Even though we've had issues lately that we need to work out, I've never thought they were so serious to warrant looking elsewhere or ending this with you. I still love you, and I don't want this to be over. I feel like that would be a mistake, one Killian wants us to make."

She looked away blinking back tears.

Tony was quiet for a moment before responding. "Ever since the day I met you, I thought you were amazing. I was a selfish, immature ass the day you barged into my office like a banshee, demanding to be heard about that accounting mistake I had made that you had found, and no one wanted to listen. You were honest to a fault, and sharp, really sharp. I could see your potential. Even after all these years, I still can't believe how stubborn you are to have stuck with me. I know I had to be the most difficult person to work for. I don't know when I realized I loved you. I'd say during Afghanistan, but I know that isn't true. Even when that bomb exploded and I thought I was going to die, my last thought was of you. It surprised me, but I realized later it shouldn't have. After Iron Man and all..." he broke off.

He walked to the window and looked out. "Pepper, I realized after the Expo and I thought I was dying how much time I've wasted not being with you the way I needed to be. Then after New York, and it's been so difficult...I know it's been rough for you, but I've been so grateful you've been here. I've been cracking up and I'd have been gone long before without you. The thought of you with someone else...I just can't bear it. And Killian...I mean if JAVIS is right, it really wasn't your fault. But it still hurts. I need to figure out what I think and feel about this. It isn't going to happen overnight. I just need some time to think. But I don't want to be hasty. I still love you, and I need you. I think we just need to see what happens."

Pepper nodded. It wasn't unreasonable.

After throwing herself into her work all weekend to distract herself, for the first time in years, she really had nothing to do that was business-related, nor did she want to do anything outside the house. The way she was feeling right now, roller coaster emotions and her mind racing a mile a minute, what she wanted was to do something mindless. Tony had his suits to lose himself into, unhealthy as that might be, so she decided to crash on his workshop couch, so they could at least be in the same proximity, and lose herself in a book she had already read, just to let her mind unwind until Monday morning.

Tony suggested she stay home on Monday if she needed to, but she was anxious to get back to the office. She didn't want to give any indication that anything was amiss around Stark Industries, and the only time she missed work was if she was sick. That was common knowledge around the office. They managed a hug and a kiss before she got into her car, unmoved since that fateful Friday night, and drove up and out of the garage. Tony breathed a sigh. He hated to see her go, especially with the nagging voice in the back of his mind saying she might be going back to Killian, but on the other hand, he was anxious to have some time alone in the house to use JARVIS as a sounding board to try and work out what to do. Besides, all his vehicles had GPS installed on them, and he had instructed JARVIS to let him know if her route deviated in any way. He supposed that made him a jealous stalker of a boyfriend, but he had reason to be now. He was never so happy as to see the map on one of his screens indicate that she had arrived at the office. He hadn't told Happy what had happened, but had quietly instructed his security friend to keep an eye on Pepper, with an offhand comment about Killian being miffed about her turning down his business offer and having a history of instability, to which Happy was more than eager to respond to.

However, if Tony was hoping for a quiet and reflective morning, he was soon disappointed.

"Sir?" came JARVIS' accented voice.

"Yeah, what J?" Tony replied.

"I'm sorry to have to upset you, sir, but it seems there's a problem concerning Ms. Potts' er...unique, situation," the A.I. said almost regretfully.

Tony felt his spine stiffen as images of her and Killian flashed in his mind again. "What now?" he asked.

"Well, sir, as you know I monitor the Internet for anything of interest to you or concerning you and those close to you. It seems that about 12 minutes ago, a video of some sort was played in a Home Depot electronics section, which was recorded by several mobile devices and is currently being uploaded to various social networking sites. It concerns Ms. Potts," said JARVIS.

"Concerns her how?" asked Tony. "What's the video of?"

"It is...of her and Mr. Killian. It appears their encounter was...recorded. And is now being uploaded to the Internet," said JARVIS.

Tony felt his blood run both hot and cold. A video? Of Pepper and Killian?

"Identify and block all uploads as you can, JARVIS," he ordered quickly. "Shut down all access to the Home Depot and upload the coordinates to my suit. And block the accounts of the users. Put a clamp on it any way you can. I'll deal with the FCC later," he said, dashing for his Iron Man suit. He could be mad later. Right now, time was of the essence if he wanted to stop this video from utterly ruining Pepper before it went viral.

Tony had decided to leave his new Mark 42 suit at home and take his reliable, and less easy to spot, silver Mark 2 to the Home Depot JARVIS had indicated was ground zero for the uploaded video of Pepper and Killian. JARVIS had taken control of the electrical grid in the area and forced a power shutdown of the store to keep the video from playing on any screen. However, at least 9 people had recorded the video using their smartphones and uploaded to social media, where it was on the verge of going viral. It was taking JARVIS longer to pinpoint their user accounts and disable them long enough to remove the video, as well as locate where it had been re-shared. In the meantime, the security footage of the store's surveillance cameras showed the driver who had brought Killian to Stark Industries lurking around in the store, and then slipping a disc into one of the DVD players connected to the store's banks of TV screens. When JARVIS had shut down the power, the machines had lost power as well, so the disc was likely still in the machine.

Tony landed on the roof, exited the suit, pulled s and slipped down the access vents to the employee areas below. He made his way down on to the store floor and headed towards the machine JARVIS had indicated. Using a pocket knife, he pried open the player and breathed a sigh of relief to find a home burned disc still inside. He pocketed it and returned the way he came to his suit on the roof, just as JARVIS restored power to the store, mystifying the electrical repair men working outside who could not figure out why the lights had gone off at all. Tony flew back to his house, both relieved and nauseous. He knew in his pocket was the evidence of Pepper's infidelity. He also knew there was no way he'd be able to stop himself from watching it, even if he broke the disc, which is what he knew he SHOULD do. He also knew he was going to have to tell Pepper. Even if this was contained, word was already getting out about what the video had contained, and JARVIS simply couldn't delete hundreds and hundreds of tweets. All he could do was try and stop the actual video from spreading.

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Pepper's office phone rang shrilly and she momentarily thought about ignoring it. She had buried herself in work all day to try and occupy her mind, and for the most part it was working. When she saw it was Tony's number, though, she grabbed the phone. He didn't often call her at work, preferring to text instead, and she didn't want to miss an emergency. She gripped the phone and leaned in, her voice soft.

"Tony?" she asked. "What's up?"

"Pepper, there's...uh...there's a tape," he said hesitantly.

She was confused. Tape? What tape? "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Of you and...him," Tony said, not quite able to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Killian."

Pepper felt the blood drain from her face, her breathing go shallow and her knees turn to liquid as Tony explained to her, what had happened and how he had retrieved the disc, how JARVIS was trying to keep word and video from spreading on the Internet, and how they were only having moderate success.

"Have you...have you seen it?" she gulped.

Tony was silent. That was all the answer she needed.

"You have," she whispered, dejectedly.

"Yeah," he said softly. There was no point in lying about it, although he could have. And she knew why he had watched. If the situation had been reversed, she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't have herself. She felt tears burn in her eyes, but thankfully they didn't fall. She felt shame burn her cheeks, but it quickly dissipated and was replaced by anger. There was no doubt in her mind anymore. She had been purposely set up.

"Tony," she said, the anger apparent in her voice, "There was no time to start up a recording device. He had it going before he even left the apartment. He planned this. I don't know what he did to me, but he did something. He set me up. He was pissed that I turned him down before personally and now professionally. He's pissed at you for the incident in Bern. He planned this. He always intended to do this to me and upload the video. He knew it would embarrass both of us and throw a wrench in our relationship. That...that bastard."

Tony heard the anger in her voice, and he had to agree. He was still royally hurt, but he knew she was right. She didn't cheat on him willingly. Killian had set up this elaborate scenario to humiliate her, probably Tony too, and test out some new drug nobody would believe could even exist. It was the only explanation that made sense. His anger was also rising. Someone had done something to Pepper and hurt her. He wanted to find Killian and smash him until Tony himself felt better about the whole thing. But that wouldn't work. Killian would just sue and the publicity would only add to the problem. Now, they had to decide what to do.

:Come home," said Tony. "We need to deal with this. JARVIS may not be able to keep this from going public, word is already out as rumor and we'll have to answer it. We need a game plan."

"I'll be home in 20 minutes," she said with determination. She hung up, gathered her stuff in record time, and rushed out, telling her secretary that she was going home. The confused looks that followed her were nothing compared to some of the knowing looks she got on the way down to the parking garage. Could some of them have heard already, she wondered? How could she be CEO of Stark Industries if she was a laughingstock? Tony's exploits were usually met with congratulations, as was the unfortunate, and sexist, fact of him being a man. But for her, she was expected to maintain the double standard or lose professional respect. Once this got out, it would be very hard for her at work. She drove faster than normal, intending to get to the mansion in record time. This time, she wanted no questions about where she was between leaving work and arriving home.

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"Well, we could lie," said Tony, tossing his pizza crust back into the box, as he faced Pepper across their bed. He suppressed a smile as she reached into the box and snatched the crust up to eat it. It wasn't that she enjoyed the crust, but he knew she hated to waste anything. Plus it was her favorite roasted garlic stuffed crust, and she never let that pass. It was not uncommon for them to order pizza and spend the night on their bed in old, comfortable pajamas watching mindless television, occasionally stopping to make love, then go back to whatever pizza was left and a marathon of World's Dumbest Criminals on the TruTV network. It was a guilty escape for both of them to laugh at idiotic criminals who got themselves locked in the convenience store they were robbing while eating cheap fast food. It also smacked of familiarity, something they had done when there were no issues between them as a couple. It was a return to normalcy.

Tony stared at Pepper, wearing her favorite purple pajamas, leaning against her pillow. The whole scene was so normal, it was both a relief and disconcerting.

"Lie how?" she asked.

"We could tell everyone the video was faked," he said. "I can have JARVIS take the original, doctor it to look like a professionally done fake, release it on the Internet, and tell everyone it's faked. It'll overtake the real one fairly quickly. If professional video analyzers look at it, they will see evidence of tampering, not knowing it was the original, SHOWING you that it was tampered with. They would concur it's a fake. We could also say it was a revenge plot on Killian's part, that he was upset about us turning him down. The motive is certainly there, and people at AIM would remember how he pursued you."

"That could work," she said pensively. He waited, watching her as she mulled it over in her mind. In his mind, it was the best option. As he let her think, his own traitorous mind wandered back to earlier this afternoon, the images of the video flashing in his mind. He thought imagining her with Killian had been bad. Actually seeing it, and knowing it was real, was much worse. He turned away and closed his eyes, trying to remind himself that she had been under the influence of something. He also knew, from watching her on the tape, that it had been purely mechanical for her. The look of adoration in her eyes that he saw when she was with him wasn't there. There had been no foreplay, no caress that came from caring about someone. It had been faster and more mechanical than Tony's own former exploits, in which he had not cared at all about his partners and his purpose had been to achieve an orgasm as fast as possible. And she had only come once. Tony usually managed to get at least two, sometimes three, out of her. That gave him a very small measure of relief, but not much. JARVIS had warned him not to watch it. As usual, the AI was right. But Tony knew he had to watch. Others had already seen his girlfriend on the tape; it was only fitting that he see it too. But as hard as it had been to watch, Tony knew it had served one real purpose. Pepper was right, she had obviously been set up. From now on, he would support her, no matter what, at least with this.

There would be no breakup, and while it might take time to relearn to trust her again, he knew he still loved her, and was not going to turn his back on her, not for this.

"No," she said with a sigh. "It won't work. We can't lie about this."

"Why not?" he asked. "You want to tell everyone it's true? Surely not."

"No, I don't WANT to tell anyone any such thing. But we have to," she said with resolve. "For one thing, you know me, I can't lie to save my own butt. I'd never be able to keep up the cover story convincingly. Second, I don't want him to get away with this. He wants me to run with my tail tucked between my legs. He wants to see us split up hoping you'd never believe he did something to me, that I cheated on purpose. No way, Tony. I don't hide. I'm going to stand up and tell the entire world what he did. Plus, if there's some new pheromone drug out there, people need to know about it."

"You know the paparazzi will hound you without mercy," he said, hating the thought of her in the crosshairs of those vultures. "The media will eviscerate you. And people at work...Pep, it's going to suck bad."

"I know," she said quietly, shivering at the thought of what was coming. "But I have to. It'll be hard. But...you'll be with me. Right?"

She looked so vulnerable, her blue eyes looking up at him beseechingly. His heart melted. He crawled up alongside her and took her in his arms. He wasn't back to the point to where he could easily make love to her, but they were back in the same bed and he believed in her and supported her. He was going to stand by her.

"Of course I will," he said, kissing the top of her head. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and closed her eyes against his chest. For the first time in nearly a week, she smiled with relief. She snuggled up against him and breathed in his scent as he nuzzled her ear. Their faces turned towards each other and their lips met hesitantly. Both were still uncertain about whether or not it was OK with the other, but when she relaxed into him, deepening the kiss, Tony had to fight for self control to keep from responding in his usual manner, feeling a surge at her obvious desire or him. Too much had happened in the last week, and he didn't want to rush things. When he gently broke away and told her they should wait a little while, the disappointment was evident in her eyes, but he pulled her down onto the bed with him and continued kissing her soundly, brushing her hair back, and relaxing her. Their make out session was one of the gentlest, sweetest ones either of them had ever encountered. Pepper felt a flood of warmth at his acceptance, and need of her, reassuring her that maybe everything would actually work out. She fell asleep wrapped in his arms, with her nose buried against his neck. Tony drifted off later, content but still anxious, knowing the firestorm that was approaching and wishing they could avoid it.