Tony looked at the blue sky and marvelled at it. It had been years since he'd ever stopped to look at the sky and smell the air or do anything other than fight and plan and plot. Two years since the events with Cap and the Accords and well, he'd managed to keep some reasonable sense of sanity. He and Pepper had patched things up and were going steady, he'd managed to get some work back for his own company, but still there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind.

He could not believe Cap had sided with that old machine monster over him. They'd been friends and now this was how it all went? The man might not have had his memories but he'd still killed Tony's parents, Cap had known that and kept it hidden. And then there'd been that whole business with the Accords. How? Why? He did not know, but there was a part of him, perhaps even a large part of him that missed his friend. Still it did no good to think on things that had gone into the past.

The future was there waiting for him. He looked at his phone then and saw a text of Peter and smiled. The kid was good, and kind, and reminded him a bit of himself before his parents' death had happened. He hoped the kid wouldn't go down the same path he had in his youth and indeed he was determined to prevent that from happening. So, he'd hired the kid as an intern and then they'd gone from there. The kid had potential.

He felt Pepper wrap her arms around him and he smiled. "Hey." He said.

"Hey." She replied. "What are you looking at?"

"Something that Peter sent me." Tony replied.

Pepper removed herself from his back and came to stand at his side. He showed her the message and she laughed. "That really does sound like something you'd say you know."

"I know." Tony replied, laughing along with her. He put his phone away and took her hand and they started walking. "So, how are things going?"

Pepper sighed. "Oh you know, the usual. Investors demanding returns, some of the more hip employees demanding we do things that are actually quite good but cost a lot of money. And then there are the customers demanding we make things more accessible."

Tony nodded and kissed Pepper's hand. "I'm sure you're managing, and if you're not you can always ask me for some help."

Pepper looked at him and laughed. "Yes, and I'm sure you'd give great advice, hunnie."

Tony feigned insult. "Well, I'll have you know that under my tenure as CEO, Stark Industries saw record profits for six years in a row."

"And three of those years were when your advisors were selling weapons to terrorists." Pepper said.

Tony sighed. "True. Though I didn't know about that."

"And now you do." Pepper said.

Tony laughed. "And now I do." They continued walking for a bit, Tony took the time to appreciate the scene before him, Pepper at his side, nothing unusual and strange, just the similarities of two people walking together who were in love. The thought made him speak then. "You know, I've been thinking."

"Oh god here we go." Pepper said.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Whenever you say the words, 'I've been thinking', I know something major is about to come." Pepper said.

"How do you know?" Tony asked. "I could be about to ask you if you want to go to the cinema. There's a great movie out right now, it's called Shazam, it's definitely worth watching."

Pepper stopped and so he stopped, and she looked at him. "Are you going to suggest we go and watch a movie about a child who becomes a superhero?"

"Well, I mean, I'd not be against it. The actor who plays child Shazam is a big Iron Man fan," Tony replied, Pepper rolled her eyes. "But seriously, I was going to say, perhaps we should talk about the wedding."

He'd proposed to her two months ago in Paris, outside the Palace of Tuileries where the Kings of France had lived once upon a time and where it was rumoured that Baldr the God of Everything was buried, though he'd need to check with Thor about that. "Well what did you want to talk about regarding the wedding?" Pepper asked.

"I think we should just skip the big event and get married today." Tony said immediately.

"What?!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Well, what would be so wrong about it?" Tony asked. "We don't need that many people, Rody's here, your dad and mom are here, and well the kid's here, we don't need anyone else do we?"

"What about all those guests we've invited? Including the President." Pepper said.

"We don't need them, you don't even like the President." Tony said, coming to stand before Pepper looking into her eyes.

"Yes but it's the principle of the thing." Pepper replied weakly.

"When have we ever cared for principle, Pepper?" Tony asked, his voice husky now.

"True…." Pepper replied. "Happy won't be happy though. He's been planning this whole thing since the day after you proposed."

"It's fine, he'll get over it." Tony said. He knew Happy, the man would get annoyed and rant for an hour and then he'd be fine afterward.

"Where would we get married? The tower?" Pepper asked.

"Oh heaven's no. I know you don't like the tower." Tony said. "I know a Bishop who can get us married."

"Which bishop?" Pepper asked.

"How does the Archbishop of Canterbury sound?" Tony asked.

"Tony, he's in England." Pepper said.

"He's not actually, I asked him to give a talk at my university." Tony said. "He's in New York for a week."

"You've really thought this through." Pepper replied before giggling a little.

Tony kissed her then. "Of course I have, it's you. I don't want to do anything half arsed with you."

Pepper said nothing for a moment, and Tony could tell she was thinking about it. Eventually she replied. "Okay, I'll do it, but on one condition."

"Name it." Tony said instantly.

"You promise me no more surprises. I know you're committed to being Iron Man and to helping out through that, but I can't deal with any more surprises. We can't do this if there's something like Ultron or something else again." Pepper said.

"A reasonable argument." Tony said. "Alright, I promise, no more surprises."

Pepper smiled and kissed him then, this one was deeper and when they broke apart, Tony felt himself struggling to get air. "Well, let's get going then." Pepper said, she took his hand and they continued walking, as they walked, Pepper spoke. "You know the President's going to be pissed we didn't invite him to this wedding."

"He's a big boy, he can handle it." Tony said dismissively, he'd just send some hookers and cocaine to the White House or the President's other address and that would be that settled.

"Well you say that, but did you see how he reacted to not being invited to Prince Harry's wedding?" Pepper asked.

Tony laughed. "I did. I saw the tweetstorm and the following apology thread that was not an apology thread." They continued walking.

"Why did we help him get elected?" Pepper asked. "He's a horrible man and he's such an idiot."

"It's because of that latter part that we helped him." Tony said. "Everything he's enacted so far domestically has helped us and the country. More people are employed and not being ripped off like they were under Obama, and there are less racial divisions now, thanks to Stark Industries schemes."

"But the man himself is so disgusting. How long can we keep propping him up?" Pepper asked.

"As long as we need to." Tony said. He stopped then and looked at her. "The minute he does something that makes you feel uncomfortable we'll get rid of him."

"And get a Presidential election called?" Pepper asked.

Tony counted in his head the number of judges he'd need to get that done and then said. "Yes, though we'd also need the Senate's support for that."

Pepper nodded. "Okay." They continued walking then and Tony saw that some people were looking at them, he ignored them.

They passed some time in silence, and then Pepper spoke once more. "You know, Thor's come back to Earth."

Tony nodded. "I saw." He had watched the news programme and seen Bruce there as well, a part of him had been stung by jealousy, but he'd pushed it down.

"Why do you think he kept the Asgardian's landing on Earth a secret for so long?" Pepper asked.

"I think to give his people a chance to get used to their new surroundings." Tony replied.

"True enough." Pepper said. "I wonder how Jane's doing with that revelation."

"Who is Jane?" Tony asked.

Pepper stopped and looked at him. "Seriously?"

"What? I don't care about anyone else's love life." Tony replied bluntly.

Pepper shook her head. "She was Thor's girlfriend. We met her at Steve's birthday party three years ago."

Tony sighed. "Right."

Pepper sighed then. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Tony waved a hand. "It's fine."

Just then something crashed into a tree behind them. Tony turned around putting Pepper behind him. He put a hand to his temple and said. "Friday, what was that?"

"Scanning the surrounding area, Mr Stark." Friday replied. There was a brief pause and then something else came clattering down near them.

"Friday!" Tony barked.

"Foreign projectile, Sir. Not sure where it's from but there are more on their way." Friday replied.

Tony turned and looked at Pepper and said. "We've got to get out of here."

"What's going on?" Pepper asked.

"I don't know, but we can't remain here." Tony said, he held onto Pepper and pressed another button as the larger giant suit encased them, they then flew off as they flew, more projectiles hit New York.

"Tony, what's going on?" Pepper asked.

Friday replied before he could. "An alien invasion, Ms Potts. Members of the Black Army are coming to Earth."

"Black Army?" Pepper exclaimed. "What's the Black Army?"

Tony sighed. "I don't know, but I have a feeling it's not good." They arrived back at the tower, Tony dropped Pepper off, and as he got changed he saw something huge and terrifying come floating into the sky. He looked at Pepper and said. "Pepper, I know I said no more surprises but…"

"Go." Pepper replied. "Go, sort this out."

"You are sure?" Tony asked.

"Yes, go." Pepper said.

"I love you." Tony said, kissing his fiancé on the lips.

"And I, you." Pepper replied. Tony pressed a button and the more comfortable suit formed around him as he took to the air.

As he flew he asked. "Friday, what are we looking at here?"

"Three big heat signatures near Central Park, Sir."

"Right, here we go." Tony said powering off and heading toward the enemy.