Chapter Four

Tony sat inside the SHIELD Headquarters not far from his Malibu home. He sat in a conference room with Steve, Natasha and Clint. Phil and Director Fury hadn't entered the room yet.

Tony was in a daze. Pepper was missing and Justin Hammer broke out of a SHIELD secured prison. This was no coincidence to him. After Hammer had been arrested a few years ago after the Stark Expo extravagant disaster, he had sworn something bad would happen to Pepper.

"Stark, what are you thinking of right now? You're like, out of it?" Clint threw a look over at Tony, who's gaze finally broke.

"Just thinking about how the hell Hammer broke out of a secure prison?" Tony snapped back.

"I was just about to tell you how that happened," Director Fury's voice echoed into the room. The four turned to see Fury, Coulson, and Sitwell walk into the room. The four turned to look at Fury. "Justin Hammer escaped at seventeen-hundred hours the other morning after an inside source helped out. We have the man in solitary confinement back in New York."

"But why the hell did he go after Pepper?" Tony asked.

"Agent Romanoff, you were working under cover back at the Stark Expo disaster. What was Hammer yelling when we were in the process of arresting him?" Sitwell spoke.

"He said that it was in Ms. Pott's best interest that she watched her back," Natasha told them. It was true. When she was undercover as Natalie Rushman, she had heard Hammer yell that to the entire area as he was being taken away.

"What I think the real question is what is Hammer's motive for taking Ms. Potts?" Coulson said. He was just as upset that Pepper had been taken. She was his friend too.

"He wants to get back at me," Tony spoke up. "He has had a grudge against me ever since the expo incident. Now his plan for revenge is taking Pepper and using it against me."

"Stark might have a point," Natasha said. The others agreed. Steve and Clint had read the file and knew the threat that Hammer had brought to the table.

"Hammer said that he would see Pepper again and bring trouble. He directly threatened her." Natasha said.

"What we need to focus on is the real threat that Hammer has against Stark, or anyone of that matter," Director Fury spoke among them. "That's why I have you all here. I'm setting up a task force to locate where Hammer may possibly be located. Stark, are you up for a little challenge?"

Tony looked right at Director Fury. He wasn't one for games, but he really wanted to find Pepper.

"Why the hell not?" He said, got up from his chair and paced around the room. 'It's about time someone finally took charge of this,' Tony thought to himself. It was time to find Pepper, fast.

Pepper woke up in a dark room. The only light in the room was being provided by a single lightbulb. Looking around, Pepper realized she was tied up against a chair. Then a small red light caught her eye. Trying to focus on the small light, she realized it was security camera, she was being watched. Pepper then tried to see if she could loosen the rope around her wrists.

"Don't think you can get out of this one Miss Potts," A voice came into the room. She recognized the voice. It was someone who should be in prison.

"Hammer, what the hell?" Pepper said. "What do you want from me?" She asked, trying to stand her ground.

Justin Hammer made his way into the light. His complexion was pale and scarier since the last time Pepper had seen him.

"Virginia Potts, its been a while since I've seen you last. How have you been?" His sarcasm made Pepper want to spit at him.

"I was fine until I ended up here, Hammer," she looked at him. "What the hell do you want with me?" She pleaded.

"You are so desperate," He laughed his sardonic laugh. "Let's just show someone how desperate you really are."

Hammer laughed as he left the room. Pepper yelled at him as he left. She didn't want to cry, but she could feel her eyes sting with tears.

The team had been crowded around the several computer screens. A few were dedicated solely on where Pepper could have been spotted, another was taking the anonymous caller tips where some had seen the van take her away, and some were scanning activity of the HAMMER Corporation. Tony was getting bored of staring at computer screens, he wanted to be searching for Pepper himself. In fact, he felt obligated to.

"Hey Stark," Steve had walked over and sat next to him. "How're you holding up?" He asked, although it was a stupid question.

"I've had better days Rogers, is there something you want?" Tony asked his friend.

"You know, I had always wondered how you and Miss Potts ever met. How the hell did she fall for a man like you?" Steve asked. He was trying to be funny with the joke.

"I ask myself the same question sometimes," Tony looked at Steve. It was a good question too. Tony always wondered how his life would be different without Pepper in his life.

"Mr. Stark?" Tony looked up from his desk. It was the one time he was actually at the office. Standing in front of him was a woman, her pale complexion made her strawberry-blonde hair stand out and freckles stand out. Tony noticed that she wasn't like most of the women he met.

"And who might you be?" Tony asked, straightening things out on his desk.

"A secretary from down in accounting. She refuses to go back to her office," One of his security guards came through the door and went to grab the woman's arm.

"Mr. Stark, there's an issue here with the paperwork. You calculated something wrong." Tony listened to the woman explain to him, however his security guard got in the way.

"I'm sorry she disturbed you, sir." He said to Tony. However, what the woman did next surprised him the most.

The woman pulled something from her pocket, a miniature pepper spray keychain.

"I'm not leaving until Mr. Stark hears me out," She said. Tony had his guard step back and put his full attention back on her.

"You calculated something wrong right here," she went on to explain. Tony looked at the problem and realized she was right.

"Who might you be again?" Tony looked at her, she had some spunk in her and he liked it.

"Virginia Potts," She stuck her hand out for a formal introduction, but Tony didn't catch on.

"Pepper," Tony said. She looked at him, confused.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, Pepper, it suits you much better than Virginia." Tony nodded in contentment. She looked at him and knew he was right. 'Pepper' was a much better nickname then her childhood one, 'Ginny'. "You can put that pepper-spray away now and grab your things from your desk."

'Pepper' looked at him in disbelief. "You're firing me?"

Tony looked at her and laughed.

"Oh no, I'm promoting you Pepper Potts. How would you like to be my new PA?" Tony asked her.

Pepper didn't know what to say, only about a year working at Stark Industries and she was now becoming the Tony Stark's personal assistant. She looked at Tony and nodded.

"Alright, think you can go on a coffee run for me?" He asked her and turned around in his chair.

"Will that be all Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked the back of his head.

"That will be all Miss Potts." Tony said. Once he heard her walking out of the room, he turned around and watched her walk away. He knew she was different, this was the start of a wonderful friendship.

A beep from the computer broke his train of thought.

"Sir, there's an incoming message from an encrypted source." One of the agents looked at Director Fury. Before he could reply, a video screen popped up. Their attention was brought to the shadowed figure in the middle of the screen.

"Try tracing it now," Fury told the agent. He started typing profusely on the keyboard. A sudden raise in the video's volume made everyone watch in silence.

"I know you're trying to trace where this video is right now," A familiar voice spoke. "You can try all you want, but you won't find us." Justin Hammer appeared in the frame, but the figure in the background was still shadowed.

Hammer walked back and forth in the frame. "Listen closely," He spoke directly to the camera. "I want Stark to hand over all his technology. Then I want you to hand me all your technology. Then you could possibly have her back," Hammer hit a light switch, the silhouette in the background came to light. Pepper, still tied up in a chair, looked up unaware of what was happening.

Tony stood from the chair he had been sitting in and walked up closer to the screen.

"The longer it takes for you to give me these requests, Stark this might be important for you, the more I'll hurt her." Hammer laughed. The camera panned in closer on Pepper. "Tell him what I told you, go ahead, tell him honey."

Tony cringed when he called Pepper honey, he watched the screen.

"Tony," Pepper started. Tony could tell she sounded tired. "Don't give him what he wants, I'll be fine on my own." She yelled out. Hammer slapped her hard against the face and screamed as if it was a reflex.

"That's not what I said. But now I'm inclined to kill you. I warned you Potts about what trouble I'd bring you." Hammer yelled. He then turned to face the camera. "You have forty-two hours to give me what I want or she's dead."

"Tony, Tony," Pepper yelled before the screen went black. Tony was petrified. He could see the tears in her eyes after Hammer hit her, he could hear the fear in her voice. It scared him.

"We need to get to Pepper, he will kill her." Tony said, his eyes still peeled on the screen. "I need to find her, fast."