"Where to begin?" Tony whispers, hands clasped tightly in his lap as he tries to keep the tremors at bay. He clears his throat and nods his head. "A long time ago, I died." He starts, tapping his reactor as he does so. "This beauty was installed to keep me alive." Pepper nods, informing him that her Tony was the same. Tony smiles and lets out a small laugh. "It really changed me, as I'm sure it did for your husband. I made a suit, got out butI couldn't operate the suit that I built when I escaped. My heart was too weak and it couldn't take the strain." Tony sighs and his body slumps a little.
"So, there's no Iron Man for you?" Tony shakes his head.
"We've got an Iron Man." He pauses and swallows convulsively. "Or I guess we had one. That's a ways away though, so I'll come back to that." He shifts on his spot on the couch and pulls his knees to his chest. His arms wrap around them. "After I escaped, I died again."
"You say die instead of almost dying." Tony nods and smiles at her.
"Because I have. I died. Not once was there an almost. Someone must have been looking out for me because I'm still here for some reason." The last bit is spit out harshly and Pepper feels her heartstrings tug a little. "Something happened with my reactor. It just sort of stopped working."
"I thought that wasn't possible."
"So did I. It happened though and I made a new one with some help. Fast forward a few years and the Avengers come together. It's led by Captain America and Iron Man. Steve Rogers and James Rhodes." Tony clears his throat at the name of his best friend and his eyes water. "Then there was Thor, Janet van Dyne, Bruce Banner, Carol Danvers, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. They were amazing. The best you'd ever seen. I wasn't officially on the team but they still came to me for help. In their eyes, I was a member of the team. Fast forward again and Extremis happens."
Pepper's breathing hitches and Tony eyes her warily.
"Not a good memory?" He questions, eyes filled with concern. She shakes her head.
"Not really."
"Someone must have been using it wrong then. You see, I used it and fixed my heart as much as I could. After it was fixed as well as it could be, we took the virus out before we could use it any other way." Pepper quirks an eyebrow and Tony waves it away. "I'll get there. Skip some years again and we come to the present." Tony sighs and stares her down. She can feel the icy blue eyes pierce her soul, and she's not sure if she's prepared for what she's going to hear. "This is where everything goes sour real fast."
