AN: Hello? It's me…I was wondering if after all these years you're still reading… Lol, seriously though…

Hey there readers (if there are any left), I'm back after a whole f**king year! Gosh, I'm so sorry for the lack of an update, and honestly, I am running out of excuses, other than the usual (school, work, other stories, laziness…), so yea…not much else to be honest.

Well, I don't want to keep you guys from what you have all been waiting for. So enjoy the show…

In Search of the Truth

Later that day…

Tony has no idea why he decided to visit Stark headquarters today. Perhaps it is his guilt for not taking care of his father's business after he died, or just his sense of responsibility for the empire that's now his. The buildings, the business, the labs, the factories, the employees…they're all his now. And yet, he could not feel any satisfaction in wandering each floor of his father's prized building. At least everything is still functioning, even without his leadership, so that's good. But one thing's for sure, he is not planning on visiting his father's…no…his office at the top of the building or talking to any of the board members. He just wants to walk around for a bit…and think.

As he steps off the elevator and onto a floor full of cubicles and workers, he ignores the surprised and slightly frightened looks of the employees as they all go back to work with renewed vigor. But Tony doesn't care about the work ethics of the employees, nor does he care about their obvious show of hard work and rounds of flattery and/or praise. Anyone who does come near him immediately retreats at his cold look. And as he makes his way through the floor, the sounds of hush talking, papers rustling, people typing, and phones ringing fill his ears.

However, deep in his mind, he could not help but recognize this floor, remembering how he had visited it many times before, looking for someone…for her. Thoughts of the mysterious woman from the elevator and the mystery woman from the ball flood his mind as he fingers the bracelet in the pocket of his suit jacket, his only evidence that what had happened that night was real and so was she. With the death of his father, the funeral, and all the legal matters that had to be dealt with, he had almost completely forgotten about them.

Almost.

But now, the women plague his mind once again, and a part of him wants to continue his search for at least one of them that he knows works for him. Yet the woman at the ball also captured his attention and … argh!

'Why does it all have to be so complicated? Why can't they be one in the same?!' Breathing in deeply to control his flaring emotions, Tony ignores the concerned looks from the people around him and continues on his way. He then takes out the small, yet beautiful, bracelet and just stares at it as he walks. At least for now, these thoughts are a welcome distraction from everything going on around him.

Pepper quickly ducks into her cubicle as soon as she spots Tony walking down the aisle near her. She could not believe that today, out of any other days, he decides to visit headquarters…specifically her floor. However, he did not seem to have noticed her as he is too busy looking at something in his hand. 'This is my chance to warn Tony about the threat against him…' but the thought quickly dashes out of her head. There's no way that Tony would believe her without proof, and what's worse is that he might think she's crazy and is actually the one threatening him. She needs evidence, and the first part is to try to find out who the man she saw is.

'Okay…so far, I know that he might be very important and is definitely familiar. It's very likely that he works in the building since he seems to know that the floor is going to be empty at the time. He might also be one of the higher level employees, given how expensive his suit looks and the air of power and control around him. Plus he might be someone from the head of the company since …he believes the death of the Stark family would mean the company falling to him…so he must be the second in command or…'

Pepper is just piecing together an idea of who the man is, and the answer is just on the tip of her tongue when a loud yell interrupts her thoughts.

"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!" she looks up, along with everyone else, as a young man rushes up to Tony, who is making his way back to the elevator. From her position, she could just make out the boy leaning in to whisper something into Tony's ear, and Tony looking slightly confused and surprised. He then seems to mumble something under his breath and follows the boy to the elevator.

As soon as the doors slide shut, one can actually hear the employees let out a simultaneous breath that they, apparently, have been holding. Then the whispers and gossip begin to spread like a forest fire. Keeping an ear open, Pepper hears her fellow employees all talking about Tony's strange and sudden visit. She then picks up the chatter between two workers in front of her.

"…what do you think was so urgent?"

"Don't know…heard that it might have something to do with the board members wanting to talk to him or something…"

"Think it might have to do with that deal Mr. Stane made recently?"

"Who knows…"

'Stane!?' the name feels just so familiar, as if she has heard it before, but never gave much thought to. Then she remembers. He is the adviser to Howard Stark and is now the head chairman of the board…

'Wait! Of course! How could I have not guessed it sooner!' The realization strikes her hard and she leans back against her seat, awestruck. But just to make sure, she has to look him up, and the image that comes up just solidifies it. The man that has murdered Howard and is plotting to kill Tony, is also the close family friend to the Starks and is the temporary head of Stark Industries until Tony can fully take over. She has finally figured it out.

But, what can she do now? It's not as if she has any proof of what she saw or heard to support her claims, and the police would definitely not believe her without some evidence. Besides, it's going to be her words against one of the most powerful people in one of the wealthiest companies in the world.

Groaning at the magnitude of the task now facing her, she lowers her head into her arms. 'It's too much. This is much bigger than me. What made me think I could do this? I'm not some hero, detective, or law enforcement officer. I'm just an accountant with some major family issues and a massive crush on the current CEO of Stark Industries. What difference can I make…

'Plenty.'

That one thought resonates in her mind and stops her inner self-belittlement as she looks at another picture on her screen of Tony and Howard together. Both are obviously posing for a picture on a magazine, and both have their arms on the other's shoulders. She then remembers the family portrait back at the mansion … and Tony's young, joyful smile…

Her face then sets to that of determination as she straightens her posture. She remembers how she had hoped to make Tony smile like that once again, and she vowed to not let them get Tony too. So as she straightens her small cubicle and her hair, Pepper formulates a plan to possibly see Stane and get some form of evidence off of him. Or maybe she can get her hands on some documents or contacts that prove his involvement. She also has to sneak around her boss, which should be one of the easiest things she has to do at this point.

Shaking her head with a sigh, Pepper decides to just improvise as she goes and not think about it too much. Placing a small note on her desk to let everyone know that she is 'on break', Pepper quickly grabs her bag and makes her way to the elevator, determined to get the evidence she needs. And no one around her even spared her a second glance.

Using the directory in the elevator, Pepper makes her way to one of the top floors of the building, where the offices of some of the higher-leveled employees are located. She had never been up this high since she never had a reason to. The clean, sleek, modern décor immediately steals her breath away as she enters. The hallway just screams wealth and importance with its white and black décor, white curtains to cover clean windows, and tile floors. She then realizes how she sticks-out like a sore thumb compared to the employees on this floor in her cheap pantsuit and just hopes that no one notices her presence.

Shaking her head to clear away any lingering doubts, Pepper begins to look around for Stane's office, knowing that it has to be one of the biggest ones besides the CEO's.

She eventually figures that she might be a bit lost as she passes the same potted plant for the third time. "Great," she mutters under her breath, looking around for the right way to go.

"Can I help you?" Pepper whirls around to face a young, disheveled woman as she walks up to her, carrying a massive pile of paperwork and binders that look like they're about to fall out of her small arms.

"Oh, my goodness," Pepper exclaims as she attempts to help the poor woman with her massive load, "Let me help you with that."

"Thank-you miss," the young woman bows her head slightly in gratitude as Pepper takes the top of the pile off and carries it herself.

"It's no problem," Pepper replies back with a kind smile. In a way, Pepper can feel for the young woman, as she knows a thing or two about being overworked. "So where are you heading?"

"Just to my office…well…not really an office, more like a table in front of an office of my boss…so I guess that sorta counts as being in an office but not really, but it does have a certain charm to it and there are times where it does feel like an office… oh, I'm rambling am I?" the younger woman squeaks out shyly, trying to hide her blush, as she leads Pepper down the hall.

"It's okay," Pepper gives her a comforting smile that she hopes eases the other woman, "I'm Pepper by the way."

"That's a cool name. I'm Jules," the woman seems to want to shake Pepper's hand, but then remembers her load, "So, you looked a little lost back there. Can I help you find anything…you know, after we drop all of these off…it's the least I can do for you since you helped me which is honestly one of the nicest things anyone has done for me so far in a long time…"

"Jules, it's nothing really," Pepper stops the rambling woman once again with a slight chuckle, "But yes, I was wondering if you can help me get to Obadiah Stane's office."

"Oh, then you're on the wrong floor," the other woman says as she adjusts the load in her arms, "He just moved a while back to another office on the floor above. I'm his secretary by the way, so I can take up there to see him. Do you have an appointment?"

Pepper freezes up for a moment and tries to come up with a reply. It pains her to have to lie to this young woman, who is just doing her job and being helpful, yet might end up being fired because she unknowingly helped Pepper. Then again, what she is doing can also cause her to lose her own job as well. And, worse, if she fails, she might end up in prison or worst. Either way, she knows that after this, things can never go back to the way they are. This thought consumes her mind, and the weight of what she is about to do weighs down on her evermore so. She then internally shakes away these dark thoughts. She knows that she has to save Tony, even if it means that she would be in danger and possibly never see him again. It's a risk she is willing to take, and hopefully at the end of it all, Jules will be okay. 'Guess love can really make you do stupid things,' Pepper muses.

Trying to keep her composure, Pepper turns back to face the young woman next to her, who has patiently waited for her reply, "Uh…yes actually…I'm applying for a job, and he called me and told me to come to his office for the interview."

"Oh…I don't seem to remember about that," Jules says as she tries to remember about such an appointment, "What job are you applying for?"

"The uh…secretary position…heard that he is looking for another secretary so I thought I'd give it a try."

"Oh," another thoughtful look crosses the younger woman's mind, and Pepper hopes that she doesn't become too suspicious, "I didn't even know he was looking for another one. Well, we're almost there, so let me check my computer."

Pepper internally grimaces and tries to come up with something to say for when they get there. After using the elevator and Jules's special key card to get to the next floor, the two arrive at Jules's desk, which is overflowing with paperwork, binders, and supplies. One can't even make out the computer that's covered in sticky notes and partially buried under the paper. The desk rests just to the side of a massive pair of double doors, which Pepper guesses leads to Stane's office.

"Sorry for the mess, it's not usually like this...oh who am I kidding, it's always like this...I mean seriously, and if you can believe today's one of the least busy day yet..." Jules stops herself from rambling again as she gets behind her desk and plops the load in her arms on top of everything else. "You can just drop everything right there," she gestures to a corner of her desk.

Pepper does so and looks around, "This place is amazing."

"You'll get use to it I'm sure. It's actually kinda boring," Jules mutters with a chuckle as she looks at her computer screen, "I don't…see your appointment anywhere. It's not on his schedule at all actually. Are you sure he called you and told you to come here today?"

"Positive, perhaps he didn't tell you," as soon as those words left her mouth, Pepper grimaces at such a lame excuse. She mentally berates herself as she closely watches the other woman's reaction.

And to her surprise, Jules lets out a massive sigh and runs her hands through her already messy hair, "Ugh, not again…"

"Again?"

She then lets out another sigh, "It's nothing. Let me go check to see if he's in."

As Jules opens the door to Stane's office, Pepper holds her breath and waits. It's now or never, and her whole mission hinges on whether Stane allows her in or not. But to her surprise, and that of Jules apparently, Stane doesn't appear to be in his office.

"Ugh…he left without telling me again," the ticked-off secretary grumbles as she checks her computer.

"He doesn't seem to tell you much does he?"

"No, not really. Though I guess that's because I'm still relatively new as you can most likely tell…he just…" she lets out another sigh, but her eyes remains on the computer screen, "I just wish he that he told me ahead of time or given me a notice of some sort." She then checks her phone, only to still find nothing, "I'm really sorry. I'm sure he'll be back very soon. Why don't you take a seat and wait for him," Jules gestures to a few seats on the other side of the double doors.

Pepper nods and takes a seat, though she is just itching to get into the office and look around, but with Jules here, she can't. So to pass the time, she might as well try to get to know a bit more about the man, "So…does he do this often? Leave and not tell you about it that is?"

Jules looks over at her for a moment before getting back to work, seeming to contemplate about whether to tell Pepper or not, "Kinda…I haven't been here long to know for sure…but… ever since Mr. Stark's death, Mr. Stane has been off on his own a lot and doing stuff without telling me. He keeps leaving his office in a hurry and doesn't tell me where he goes or what he does…"

"What do you think he does," Pepper is now curious, and she believes it may have something to do with his plot against the Starks.

"Does it matter? Besides, it's none of my business. I just do my best with what he gives me and roll with it."

"I see…" Pepper doesn't know what else to say.

It's obvious now that Stane is doing some very clandestine and shady activities and is mostly operating on his own agenda separate from the company. So he might be working on his own. She then remembers the conversation she overheard earlier and figures that there has to be a second party involved in everything. Originally, she thought that they were just the assassins, but then again, they seemed far too invested in the entire operation to just be so. Maybe they're another, rivaling company?Pepper doesn't know for sure, so hopefully she might be able to get some answers soon. She checks her phone and opens her recording app, setting it in case she is going to have to talk to Stane.

Looking out a nearby window, Pepper sees how the sun is relatively low in the sky. It must be getting really late now. She then wonders what her boss is thinking downstairs right now. She grimaces, if this doesn't work, she is going to be in a whole other kind of trouble.

"Listen, I gotta go use the bathroom and pick-up some work," Jules says in a hurry as she stands up, her phone in her hand, "I'll be right back as soon as I can, but I'm sure Mr. Stane will come back eventually. Or do you want to make another appointment with him to meet him another time?"

"No, it's alright," Pepper says almost too quickly, and composes herself, "I mean…I can wait."

"Okay," Jules seems hesitant but then shrugs. So she heads off, leaving Pepper on her own.

Sighing in relief and for her good luck, Pepper quickly and quietly ducks into Stane's massive, clean, new office. Not stopping to admire the room, Pepper immediately gets behind the desk and boots up his computer. The desk looks slightly messy with papers strewn about, so it appears as if Stane left in a hurry. The computer, however, is locked, and it requires a password to open.

"Dang it," Pepper cusses as she rifles through the drawers instead, making extra sure to place everything back the way they were. She also looks through some of the paperwork and cards on the desk, but they didn't reveal anything about the assassins or Stane's plans. She is just about to give up and head back out when she notices a mysterious panel on one of the side drawers. Pulling it up, it turns out to be a false bottom, and underneath it is a book, called The Iron Monger.

"Now why would Stane put you in a secret drawer?" Pepper asks quietly as she opens the slightly worn book. In the front covers, a riddle is written in neat handwriting,

Thy journey begins when the door is unlocked.

The key's not far,

And it can be quite a shock.

It's closer than you think.

You need to begin at the start,

And then thy story will unravel in an eye's blink.

'This riddle must be for the password! It's closer than I think? To begin at the start?' Pepper wonders in her head as she stares at the inside cover. She then flips to the beginning of the story, only to find that nothing really stood out word-wise or number-wise. 'Begin at the start…'

That's when it hits her. The start of the story is the title, and then after it is the story. So with bated breath, she types in the title of the book, The Iron Monger, onto the password bar and holds her breath as the screen loads. It worked.

Releasing her breath in relief, Pepper begins to look around. She eventually finds a private messenger app and opens it to find several messages between Stane and an anonymous party. "Bingo," Pepper mutters as she reads some of the messages that have been decrypted. Though the only the ones from the other party are decrypted, and all the ones from Stane are encrypted, they paint a clear picture of the their plans to murder the Starks. Even though Pepper knows about it, some of the details still make her gasp. They have been planning this for months.

The rest of the messages, however, talk about some weapon deals that Stane has made, and these date back for almost years according to the dates of the messages. Wanting to know more, Pepper goes into the documents folder and scans it with lightening fast speed. She then finds a folder listing all sorts of documents and contracts over some weapon deals and it shook her to the core once she realizes that they are all for shipments to the Middle East, towards some mysterious looking organizations that Pepper knows aren't towards the US military.

As she scrolls through some more, she also sees some documents with a 'void' or 'rejected' stamped on it, along with pages after pages of shipments and contracts to a mysterious buyer that Pepper doesn't recognized, called H. Stane must be dealing with some sort of clandestine organization that is based across seas, and it seems as if Howard must have not approved. 'That might be why he was murdered. So that Stane can protect his deals to this organization.' Pepper guesses.

She opens another folder to find blueprints of weapons, missiles, and vehicles that she has never seen before, but look far more advance than anything they have now. They almost look like they're from a sci-fi movie of some sort. She may not be an engineer or a scientist or a lawyer, but even she could see that some of these look far-fetched and possibly illegal. She then finds another blueprint, but this one catches her eye even more since it has Tony's name on it. It seems to be a blueprint of a suit or armor of some kind, and it looks like it's really heavily armed. This makes her freeze in her tracks. 'Could Tony be a part of this too? Is he working for Stane and making all of these advance weapons of mass destruction?' She refuses to believe it, but the proof is all there. Pages after pages of Tony's suit of armor, each one different than the last.

'Wait. Stane is also planning to kill Tony. So it must mean that Tony is a victim in all of this as well, he might not even know about these deals,' Pepper hopes, but a part of her still doubts, 'Or maybe he does know, but Stane is planning to kill Tony so that he can take all the money?' If Pepper uses these blueprints as evidence, then Tony would be targeted too, and he could lose everything.

And he would hate her forever.

Then, the weight of all the evidence in front of her finally crashes down on her. This is no longer a matter for the police. It's now a matter for the FBI or CIA or Homeland Security! The nation could be at threat here with the deals Stane is making with these weapons of mass destruction. Tears are now falling from her eyes and on her hands as they clench into fists. What should she do?!

"I'm sorry Tony," Pepper says to herself as she digs around in her bag for her flash drive. Without thinking, she jams it into the port and begins to copy down the files, the documents, the messages, everything. As soon as it is all downloaded, Pepper yanks out the flash drive, wipes her eyes, places the book neatly back into the false bottom and makes sure that everything goes back to the way they were, including the computer. And just as she steps out of the office, she can hear the voices of both Jules and Stane as they head towards the office.

"But sir! You have a meeting later tonight with…"

"I don't care Miss Ling! Just deal with it!"

"But the meeting is very important! And I just got a call from the board. They wanted to speak to you earlier with Mr. Stark…"

"I have much more important things to deal with! Just take care of it! Also cancel all my plans for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning, I'm heading out!"

"But sir!"

The door to Stane's office closed just as the two round the corner, and Pepper moves to stand by the chairs. When Stane finally notices her, he asks in a gruff tone, "And who are you?"

Before Pepper can say anything, Jules speaks up, "She's the new secretary you were going to interview today sir. Without telling me," she mumbles the last part, but he could hear her anyway.

"I don't need your input Miss Ling," he then turns to Pepper with what she guess is suppose to be his nice expression, but it still comes off as intimidating, "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that there would be an interview, or that I was looking for another secretary."

Now standing close to the man himself, Pepper almost shrinks away in fear, knowing all the horrible things this man plans to do and has done. But she musters up her courage and stands a bit taller. "Oh, you must be Mr. Stane," Pepper puts on her most sincere face as she speaks carefully, "I want to apologize so very much. The Mr. Stane I was meant to meet today must have sent me the wrong address since he just called asking where I am. Looks like I went to the wrong place. I'm so sorry for this, and I'm so sorry Jules."

Jules seems to deflate a little, but just nods and go back to her desk, "It's okay."

"Oh a simple misunderstanding I'm sure. I'm so sorry for having to keep you waiting though," Stane says with such a sincere smile, "I hope you have a safe trip home Miss…"

She knows that she can't lie with Jules in the same room, yet she also doesn't want to tell the complete truth either, "Paltrow. Pepper Paltrow."

"Oh well, it's nice to meet you then Miss Paltrow. By the way, if things don't work out with the other Mr. Stane, then do stop by, I might have just the job for you," he says with a mirthful eyes, shaking her hand slightly. However, Pepper becomes immediately worried for Jules, as she looks over to the busy younger woman at her desk.

But Pepper just wants to get out of there now and not have to face the monster in front of her, "I'll keep that in mind. Thank-you for understanding. Have a good evening."

"And you too." Pepper didn't wait another second as she calmly, or as calmly as she could clutching her bag with the flash drive full of classified documents and encrypted messages, walks down the halls towards the elevators. As she walks down quickly, she suddenly remembers why Stane seems so familiar. She had met him before, at her family's art gallery with the Starks. The fear that he might have seen through her and remember her, spurs her to walk faster towards the elevator.

As soon as Pepper is out of sight, Obadiah lets out a puff of breath and turns to face Jules, who has just typed an email to Justin Hammer about cancelling the meeting later tonight, "Cancel all my meetings tonight and tomorrow. And clean up that desk of yours, it's embarrassing."

"Yes sir," she mumbles quietly, having given up.

As he steps into his office, he heads for his desk; however, he immediately becomes suspicious. He notices some drops of water on his desk that he knows weren't there before, and some of his paper work is shuffled around. It could have been Jules, but she knows better than to enter his office without him there. He then checks his computer and realizes that some of his classified documents have been recently opened, and they were copied and downloaded. Fearful, he opens his private messenger and sees that it too has just been opened.

"Sh*t," he scans looks through everything and it appears like some of the more classified documents have been downloaded. He knows that it has to have been that woman. But to confirm his suspicions, he goes to his computer's camera feed to find out. As a security measure for his own eyes only, he made sure that as soon as his computer is turned on, so is the computer's camera so that it can record anyone who is in front of the screen. And sure enough, the feed of Miss Paltrow in front of his computer causes him to slam his fist to his desk.

Grunting in anger, he picks up his phone and makes a very special, secured call, "Hi, yes it's me again. Listen, we got a situation here. And I think I'm going to need him after all. Simple search and elimination, no fuss, no attention, completely accidental… Yes…send in the Winter Soldier…"

AN: And scene.

So that's that for this chapter. I know that it has roughly more than a year since my last update, and I know that my writing style has changed quite a bit, but I hope that this is still a bit enjoyable for all of you. Again, I want to apologize greatly for the massive delay, but it just can't be helped. So I hope that this chapter is worth the wait, and to be honest all I can say is…

At least I can say that I've tried…To tell you I'm sorry for making you wait…But it don't matter it clearly might not matter to you anymore…

So until next time, this is FD signing off…

Peace

~FD