Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Iron Man: Armored Adventures isn't mine. Not even Tony (or Gene! D:), belong to me. The rights ultimately belong to Marvel, so there. :D Don't try to sue me, got that? I'm not making even a single cent off this story.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter; you've got no idea how happy it makes me that so many people have enjoyed this story. :D Here's the epilogue that I promised all of you, which I tried to make as long as humanly possible. Enjoy! :D

Epilogue: Team Iron Man

Pepper got up and helped Tony stand. He staggered weakly as soon as he was in an upright position, and fell heavily against her. His legs were like rubber after being controlled for so long; he had very nearly forgotten how to use his muscles without aid.

"Tony, I still can't believe it's you," Pepper said, voice thick with tears. She looped one of his arms around her neck and supported as much of his weight as she could. "It's been so long…"

"I know, Pepper," he said wearily. "I lost track of time, but I know it was sometime over a month. Maybe two."

Pepper froze and stared at him, lips parting with surprise. "Tony…it's been two years," she said bluntly, swallowing hard at the expression that crossed Tony's face.

"You're…kidding," he managed to croak out, obviously trying to suppress his horror.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh my God!" someone shrieked, sounding suspiciously like Whitney.

"Tony? Is that you?" came a shocked voice from just behind them. Pepper clumsily maneuvered Tony in an inexpert circle so that they faced the opposite direction. Rhodey, Whitney, and Gene stood together, looking equally bruised and battered. Rhodey's helmet was gone, and Whitney had taken off her mask. They all stared at Pepper's burden with nearly identical expressions of amazement.

Tony smiled falteringly, and Pepper could somehow tell that he was still upset over the fact that two years had slipped by without him knowing. "Hey, Rhodey," he mumbled, expression crumpling.

Rhodey lunged forward and grabbed Tony away from Pepper, heedless of his War Machine armor, and hugged him tightly. Tony feebly hugged his old friend back, arms looking thin and weak in comparison. "God, Tony. It's so great to see you, man," Rhodey murmured, still a bit stunned. This was all like some kind of elaborate dream, the one he'd been regularly having ever since Tony had mysteriously vanished.

Tony tried to say something, but his eyes rolled back in his head instead. He would have collapsed, if it hadn't been for Rhodey's grip on him. "What's wrong? Tony?" Rhodey exclaimed, starting to freak out. "What's wrong with him?"

"Calm down, Rhodes," Gene interjected calmly. He still held his broken hand to his chest, face tight with pain. "Stark is weak and he needs rest. It's going to be a while before he's back to his normal self again."

"Speaking of normal, we really need to get out of here," Whitney said suddenly. "The police and media are starting to converge, if you know what I mean."

Pepper glanced in the direction that Whitney was looking, and saw that she was right. "We'd better get back to your apartment, Rhodey," she said, pressing a switch to activate her jet pack. It flared to life, but she remained firmly on the ground. "Whitney, want a lift?" she asked reluctantly, knowing that it be rude to leave Whitney behind after all she'd done.

She shook her head and slipped her mask back into place, effectively hiding the bloody cut on one side of her face. Her blonde hair flickered and changed to black. "Thanks for the offer, but I have something I need to do. Tell Tony hi for me, and that I'll drop by the see him later."

"We will," Rhodey said, as his own helmet slid back around to hide his identity. He lifted Tony up into his arms like a sack of flour, preparing for flight.

Pepper, who had decided it was probably best to collect the pile of Iron Man armor and keep it out of the wrong hands, turned to Gene. "Coming?"

He shook his head. "I need to get my hand taken care of. You'll just have to carry on without me for a while, Potts."

She frowned at the strange tone in his voice, but nodded. "Okay. But be sure to drop by soon to see Tony, all right?"

Gene didn't respond. He looked down towards the five rings in his palm, which he had apparently collected from where Tony had thrown them. In an abrupt flash of light, he vanished.

"Talk to you three soon," Whitney said, then turned and raced away into the darkness.

Rhodey and Pepper lifted off into the air without a word to one another, and flew towards home.

It took them maybe ten minutes to reach their destination, where they somehow managed to get upstairs without being noticed by any of the other tenants. Pepper closed the door behind them and dumped the Iron Man armor into a pile on the floor, while Rhodey gently deposited Tony onto the sofa. Stark climbed down from a chair, barking eagerly, and licked one of Tony's hands. It seemed he had an instant liking of his namesake.

Pepper sank tiredly into the chair Stark had just vacated. "I still can't believe it," she murmured, gazing down at Tony's peaceful face with wonder. "We've been searching for so long…"

"And you never once gave up hope," Rhodey said. "Even when I lost faith, you didn't. Tony will be proud of you, Pepper."

She didn't answer, but smiled at the unconscious figure stretched out across the couch.

"Call me if he wakes up, okay? I'm just going to go change out of this," he said, gesturing down to the suit of armor he still wore. When Pepper had nodded distractedly, he made his way into the bedroom and closed the door.

It took a few minutes to get his armor off, and stash it neatly away in his closet. Then he sank down onto the bed, finally allowing his body to relax. He'd undergone a brutal beating, even though he'd only lasted a few minutes into the battle. But it had been completely worth it, just to save Tony and finally get him back. He would do it all again just to wipe Tony's memory of the horrible events that had likely occurred while he was held prisoner. Unfortunately, life didn't work like that. Tony was going to have to live with the memories, as were all of them.

Rhodey stood again, intending to join the others in the living room, then his eyes fell upon a cordless phone sitting on the bedside table. He glanced at the closed bedroom door, then back to the phone again. Quickly coming to a decision, he picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.

After three rings, a woman answered. "Hello?"

Rhodey took a deep breath and sat back down on the bed. Then he spoke to his mother for the first time in nearly three months. "Hi, Mom. It's me, Rhodey. I was wondering if I could stop by sometime this week and see how you're doing. I've got the best news for you."

Whitney pushed open her bedroom window and flipped inside. She landed in a perfect crouch on the thick carpet, then slowly straightened. Taking a moment to lock the window behind her, she pulled off her mask and placed it in a locked box under her bed. Then she pulled off her costume and dressed in a flattering red dress that had previously been hanging on her closet door.

She stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. Apart from a dark bruise on her forehead and a small cut on her cheek, no one would ever be able to tell that she'd just been involved in a battle with Iron Man.

She quickly ran a brush through her hair, smoothing it back from her forehead, then left her bedroom. She walked down the hallway, then mounted the carpeted stairs to the third floor. There was only one large room up there, which was just the one she was interested in.

Whitney walked down a long hallway at the top of the stairs, then stopped before a wooden door and knocked. She didn't receive an answer, but that didn't stop her from completing her mission, because she hadn't been expecting one. She pushed the door open and strode inside.

Obadiah was sitting in a chair in the corner, where his desk had been. The large wooden desk now lay on its side, cracked nearly in half. Various papers that had been files for new inventions that he planned on stealing scattered the room.

"Hello, Daddy," she said calmly.

He barely even looked at her, taking a generous sip of alcohol from the clear glass he gripped in his hand like a lifeline. "What do you want?" he muttered viciously, scowling down at his broken desk. "Here to gloat? Say that you told me I would lose eventually? If that's why you're here, Whitney, you can just save it."

She almost turned and left right then and there, but managed to stop herself just in time. She clenched both hands into tight fists and took a deep and cleansing breath.

She had seen just how close Pepper had come to losing Tony, who clearly meant the world to her. It had shown her just how easy it was to lose the people who were important to you. They could slip away so easily, not giving you any chances to say goodbye. It was important to patch up battered relationships and keep them going strong, which is what she intended to do with her father, even if the effort killed her.

Plastering what she hoped was a cheerful smile onto her face, she walked to the window. She pulled back the heavy set of drapes and allowed the first rays of sunlight to filter gently inside. She turned back to her father, ignoring his angry protests about the faint sunlight being allowed inside.

"You need to get out for a bit today," she said firmly, taking complete control of the situation. "We're going to breakfast. So go take a shower and get dressed. Then we're going down to one of Stark International's rival companies to see about getting you a new job."

Obadiah grumbled irritably under his breath, but got to his feet and stumbled from the room to do as she said.

Whitney smiled to herself before following him. This new arrangement was going to work out just fine.

Gene had used the healing energies of one of the rings to mostly fix up his broken hand. It was aching now, deep in the bone, but other than that seemed fine. And now that little issue had been taken care of, he was free to set about his business, however unpleasant it was.

He was in his room at the moment, deep within the vaults of the Mandarin headquarters. A battered suitcase was placed on the neatly-made bed, and he was slowly and methodically filling it with clothes from his dresser.

It was time that he stopped being the Mandarin once and for all. He wasn't as cut out for the heavy burden of being such a powerful villain anymore. The Controller, via Stark, had made him look like an incompetent fool. He had very nearly gotten himself killed just to save Pepper Potts. Showing his nearly obsolete soft side wouldn't make him very popular with the Tong, that was for sure. They liked a leader who was strong and merciless, and would tolerate nothing else.

But that wasn't the only reason he was leaving, no matter what he told himself.

Stark was back now. Pepper wouldn't need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to help her get through her many struggles. She had the one she really cared about back, the real hero. Pepper had no need for him to stick around any longer, and he really had no place in their team. He was more of a loner. Or so he told himself.

Gene carefully pushed the drawer of his dresser closed, then stepped away and surveyed the room. When he saw nothing out of place, nothing that he could have forgotten, he zipped the suitcase closed and picked it up from his bed. He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him, then walked away from his old life.

He would travel to faraway places, see things he had never seen before. He would build an empire and gather riches with the help of the five Mandarin rings, find loyal employees to work with. And he would never allow himself to look back, no matter what.

But there was just one last thing he had left to do first.

Pepper was still sitting on the chair beside the couch, Stark on her lap, watching Tony sleep. Rhodey hadn't yet emerged from his bedroom; he was on the phone to his mom, which Pepper had discovered by pressing her ear to the wood and doing a little covert eavesdropping. That was one of the things she did best, after all.

She stretched her arms out over her head, then moved Stark to the floor. He whined his disapproval and stared longingly at her as she stood and headed into the little kitchen area. She opened the refrigerator and rummaged around for a moment, finally discovering a can of soda and pulling it open. She popped the lid open, then took a sip.

Someone knocked on the front door. Stark yipped once and looked towards the unexpected noise, not exactly looking like the best guard dog in the history of the world.

Pepper glanced quickly at Tony, who hadn't even stirred with all the racket. She put the can down on the kitchen counter, then hurried over and opened the door. Gene stood there, holding the handles of a battered suitcase. "Gene?" she asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake Tony. "How's your hand?"

He nodded briskly. "It could be better, but I'll be fine."

"Good." There was a brief but awkward break in the conversation while Pepper frantically tried to think of something else to say. "So, um…want to come in?"

"I can't, Potts," Gene said calmly. "I don't want to interrupt anything. Besides, I'm just coming to say goodbye."

"What?" she yelped, completely shocked. "Goodbye? Gene, what's going on? How badly were you hurt in that fight?"

He smirked and shook his head at her. "I'm not dying, Potts. I'm leaving."

"Leaving where?" she demanded, still the slightest bit confused as to what was going on.

"I don't know yet. Somewhere far away, where no one knows me. Where I can start over as the Mandarin and find employees who aren't constantly planning to have me assassinated. Surely even you can understand why I'd do such a thing."

Pepper just stared at him, ignoring his mild insult. "But why? You just helped us get Tony back. Don't you want to stay and let him thank you for saving his life?"

"That's the point," he said quietly, averting his dark eyes from her inquisitive gaze. "Stark is back now, and there's no place for someone like me in your life. You don't need me anymore." He grimaced when Rhodey's dog thought he heard his name, and enthusiastically wagged his tail from across the room.

She was shocked. "But, Gene…don't be stupid. Of course I need you; we all do. Where is all this coming from?"

"You never needed me before, when Tony was around," Gene pointed out, careful not to accidentally call Stark (the dog) over for an uncontrollable licking spree. "You only needed someone to be there for you when you were alone. But you aren't anymore. So I'm going to just let you get on with your life now." He turned to go, but Pepper impulsively reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"Gene…can't you at least leave a phone number or something? You're a good friend; I don't want to lose you forever."

He looked pained, gently jerking his sleeve from her grasp. "That's another reason, Potts. I'm just a friend to you, nothing more. And I never will be, now that Stark is back."

She gawked at him, even though she knew she probably looked ridiculous. "You mean you…?"

"Goodbye, Potts." Gene turned and walked away down the corridor, disappearing around the corner and into his future.

"Call me, Gene!" she shouted after him, blinking hard as she tried to keep the tears from overflowing down her cheeks. She had never known that Gene had feelings for her, in all the time they had known each other. She couldn't imagine how he felt, watching her fawn over another man when all he wanted was for her to return his feelings. She felt a sudden surge of guilt, and it was all she could do not to run after Gene and stop him from leaving.

"Pepper?" came a sleepy voice in the direction of the couch.

She quickly wiped at her eyes, then slammed and door and spun around. "Tony," she whispered happily, staring at him for a few seconds as he slowly and painfully pulled himself into a sitting position. "Rhodey, come quick!" she called excitedly, trying to push depressing thoughts of Gene from her mind. She rushed over to sit down beside Tony, vowing to track him down later. Gene Khan wasn't going to escape that easily, no matter how hard he tried.

"Pepper?" Tony asked groggily, grimacing. "Where are we?"

She patted his shoulder, restraining herself from jumping at him and hugging him so tightly that his ribs would have the potential to break. "We're at Rhodey's apartment," she said happily, heart swelling with joy. "Sorry, I forgot you'd never been here before."

"Tony!" Rhodey came hurrying from the bedroom, grinning ear to ear. He patted Tony vigorously on the shoulder, then sank down onto the couch with them. "Man, you have no idea how much I've missed you."

"We both have," Pepper added, once again blinking to clear her eyes of tears. "Where have you been, Tony?"

He was quiet a few minutes, staring into the distance towards something only he could see. "I fought that criminal with the stolen tech, remember? That was when I first disappeared." He waited until both of his friends nodded before continuing. "It turned out to be the Controller. He…he did something to me, I don't know what. I passed out, and woke up in the basement of Stark International. Obadiah…Obadiah did some things to me. He hit me with a sonic-powered whip. It…tore through my skin like a knife through melted butter." He bit his lip, touching his shoulder. Everyone knew that under his shirt were the angry scars that tore all across his skin.

Pepper clenched both hands into fists, visibly fighting to regain her composure. "If I hadn't already killed that bastard, I'd go after him right now!" she ground out, totally furious.

"Calm down, Pepper," Rhodey said soothingly, though he felt much the same. He was just better at hiding his anger.

"I don't know how long I was out," Tony went on softly, eyes growing vacant as he was immersed into memories. "But when I woke up again, I was in a large room. Everything was white. And there were men in masks and safety goggles leaning over me…"

Tony slowly regained consciousness, eyes fluttering open. His entire body throbbed with pain, and he wasn't so sure that he wanted to be awake. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep and pretend like nothing was happening to him, that none of what Stark and the Controller had done had really happened.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to change any of it.

Everything was blurry, and he had to blink hard, several times, to clear his vision. A white ceiling was just above his head, bright lights shining down into his eyes. He painfully turned his head, and saw more white walls and lights everywhere. Several men in white suits and white masks, safety goggles firmly in place over their eyes, leaned over him. One of them, who seemed familiar, smiled cruelly when he saw that Tony was awake.

"Controller," the teen gasped out. It hurt to speak, and it felt like at least one of his ribs had been broken. He tried to sit up, but found that several straps of white leather secured him to the examining table he lay on. "Why…are you doing this?"

The man leaned closer still, pulling off his mask and safety goggles. He was indeed the Controller, and he seemed happy to see his subject in such pain. "Don't worry, Tony Stark, you'll find out everything you need to know in due time. But for now, we need to condition you. Stane had his fun, now we'll have ours. Along with our…revenge."

Tony tried to swallow, but his throat was burning with thirst. "What…do you…?" he croaked.

"Activate the mind probe and heat lances," the Controller ordered one of the other men, then turned back around to face Tony. He smiled coldly, and Tony felt a sudden surge of fear. "I'm going to enjoy this very much, Tony. But I can't say the same for you." He stepped back and put on his goggles and mask again, while two more men took his place.

"Please don't do this," Tony choked out urgently. "I just want to go home. Please don't–"

And then the examining table was moving, creaking loudly as gears shifted it upright. Tony found himself held straight up and down, still strapped to the table. Now he could see around the rest of the blindingly white room, and saw several pieces of high-tech machinery in one corner. Along with several pieces of foreign weaponry that he had never seen before, but could easily guess what they could be used for. Extreme torture.

Tony looked down at his body for the first time, and saw that he still wore only a pair of bloodstained jeans. Fresh blood coated his skin, more and more steadily leaking from the hundreds of slashes across his chest, back, and arms.

"Are you ready, Tony Stark?" the Controller asked pleasantly, from where he stood several feet away.

"You're never going to get away with this," he spat. "I have friends, and they're going to find you. They'll stop you."

"Oh, but I don't think so. Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Potts are helpless to save you, Tony. We're in a perfectly secure compound, and there's absolutely no way in from the outside."

Tony choked back his despair, not wanting to give the Controller the reaction he so obviously wanted. "They'll stop you," he repeated, more to himself than anyone else.

"Let's see if you feel the same after a few weeks," the Controller said. He nodded sharply to the two men looming up in Tony's face. "Do it."

One of the men began attaching a strange helmet to Tony's skull, and faced little resistance. Tony was too weak and exhausted from the constant pain to put up much of a fight. He could only stare straight ahead while the man finished attaching the helmet, and try his best to regain his dignity.

The first man stepped away again, while the second man held up what looked like a highly advanced gun. He smiled coldly, then pulled the trigger. A burst of white fire exploded from the end of the gun and slammed into Tony's skin. It was all he could do not to scream as the fireball sizzled against his bare flesh for several excruciating seconds before dissolving.

"Very good, gentlemen," the Controller said happily. "Now activate the mind probe."

"Please stop. Don't do this," Tony choked out through gritted teeth.

The first man pressed a button on the remote he held in one gloved hand, and white light exploded through Tony's skull. His back arched like a bow from the table as he involuntarily strained against the restraints. He screamed, in complete agony, and pain was all he knew. He barely had enough strength for one short sentence, before the pain completely overtook him and started to tear him from sanity.

"They'll save me."

"…I don't know how long I was held there. I thought it was only a month or two. But Pepper told me it's been two years." Tony stopped and took a deep breath to compose himself. "I guess the Controller really enjoyed himself. I think there were other pieces of tech he used on me, but I don't remember much else about what happened. Everything's kind of foggy after that bit."

Pepper was staring at him with horror, tears flooding her eyes. "Oh my God, Tony…how could they have done all that to you?"

Tony shrugged, not meeting her gaze. He stared down at Stark, who was looking up at him and wagging his tail, tongue lolling out. "The Controller liked it. He liked to see people suffer."

Rhodey was having similar troubles controlling his own emotions, and reached over Pepper to put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Tony. Nothing like that is ever going to happen to you again. We'll make sure of it."

Pepper patted Tony's hand, giving him a watery smile. "You can count on us. And…I'm sorry that we didn't rescue you sooner. God, I tried so hard…" She trailed off, hastily wiping her eyes and clearing her throat.

"She did," Rhodey agreed proudly, smiling down at the redhead. "She never gave up hope that you were gonna come back to us, Tony. She sacrificed most of her own life to focus on saving you."

Tony looked worried. "Pepper…you shouldn't have done that, not just for me."

"Believe me, Tony, it was worth it," she said sincerely, cheeks faintly heating up.

The three friends sat in companionable silence for a while, just happy to be back together again. Then Stark moaned loudly and stretched, tail starting to wag like a tree branch caught in a fierce gale.

"I think he has to go out," Pepper pointed out to Rhodey.

Rhodey nodded and sighed. "Just a minute, Stark, and I'll take you for a walk."

Stark yipped excitedly, trotting towards the door then pausing to stare expectantly over his shoulder.

Tony laughed, sounding startled. "You named your dog Stark?"

Rhodey's expression was somewhere between irritation and embarrassment. "I checked a site of dog names, and Stark happened to be among the top ten," he said haughtily, though it was obvious to everyone that he had created the excuse off the top of his head.

"Well…thanks, Rhodey. I'm honored," Tony said with a weak grin.

"So what's gonna happen now?" Pepper asked in a small voice, changing the subject again. "Are we still Team Iron Man?"

Tony looked solemn, lips tightening. "I don't know, Pepper. After what the Controller put me through, both in and out of the armor, I don't know if I'm ready to put it back on again."

Rhodey nodded sadly. "I can't blame you for that. But we'll get the armory ready for you again, whenever you decide to go back to it."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," he said. "It's going to be a while before I'm as strong as I used to be, though."

"It doesn't matter, Tony," Pepper said quietly, taking one of his hands between both of hers. "We'll both always be here for you, Rhodey and I."

"She's right, Tony. We'll never let you go through something like that ever again, man. Trust me on that."

Tony's shoulders sagged, and he took a deep breath. "Thanks, guys. You have no idea how good it feels for you to be back."

Rhodey looked at his watch, then stood. "You up for a trip out, Tony? My mom's invited us all over for dinner. We can walk Stark on the way."

Tony looked almost like he might cry, as Pepper carefully helped him to his feet. "That would be awesome," he said quietly, blue eyes shining with tears of happiness.

"Then let's go," Pepper said, putting one arm around Tony's waist to help him walk. "Team Iron Man forever."

Stark barked happily as Rhodey clipped him to his leash. Then the four of them walked out the door, towards whatever life would bring them next.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who stuck with this story, despite occasionally long waits between chapters. ^-^; I hope you all liked reading the story. And special thanks to those who reviewed on every chapter. :D I hope to see you guys at another fic of mine sometime soon!