Chapter 24

Pepper dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, and had opted to walk barefoot to the containment unit immediately after training practice was over. She had been training real hard the last couple of days, and the more intense she trained, the more constricting her clothes felt. She had been trying to avoid doing so, but it seemed she would have to request her uniform to be altered to resemble more of a leotard than shorts if she wanted to achieve the levels of flexibility she knew she was capable of.

Tony's gonna have a fit, she thought remembering how difficult it had been for her husband to accept the already revealing nature of her Avenger uniform. If he found out that she was considering copying the clothing style she had only seen used by women in fighting videogames…

Yup, he's gonna freak out.

She had no option, however. She knew how powerful the Mandarin was and it was her intention to not hold back at all the next time they encountered the vile man; the man that almost killed her husband and would no doubt try to kill her friends and children as well.

Stop thinking about it, Potts. You have a meeting to tend to.

Her face showed none of her internal conflict when she reached the entrance of Killian's cell where Jane, Darcy and Fury awaited her. As before, Tony had been asked not to show up to this meeting since he always seemed to lose the very little control he had over himself. No one could really blame him, though. What man in his right mind would not worry sick about his wife being locked up in a room with a super-powered maniac?

Fury nodded to Pepper to acknowledge her presence before returning his attention to the rest of his present team. "Pepper is going to walk in there and interrogate our guest. Dr. Foster, I expect you to monitor any unusual readings around them, even if they can be attributed to the Extremis, and report them back to Coulson. Pepper, are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes, I am. I've done this before. I'm ready. Just keep Tony away from here. He's not gonna like what he sees."

"I bet," Fury agreed. "Steve, James, Clint and Natasha are upstairs in the monitoring room. Miss Lewis, Dr. Foster and I will be joining them. If he tries anything…"

Pepper gave him a smile. "I know."

Since the release of the video of Killian talking to himself, the security in the cell had been heightened. Guards were now required to be outside of the entrance at all times, and the locking mechanism of the doors had been changed so that not only did it lock electronically, but four bars of hard steel on either side of the doors dug inside the walls to keep everything in place.

While at the time of the recording the camera had not been angled to show the cell's entrance, it was obvious by the video that no one had actually walked inside the cell. It was also obvious that Killian had not been talking to someone standing just outside the cell; the tilt of his head and direction of his stare made it clear that he had believed himself to be speaking to someone standing only a few feet away. However, they were not willing to take any other risks with Killian; he was their only source of information regarding the Mandarin, so he needed to stay in place.

The first set of doors opened and the familiar hiss brought Pepper back memories of the last time she had been here. It seemed as it had been years ago but it truly had only been less than two months since he had taught her how to control the aim of the heat. During said lesson she had thought he had only been trying to show off his skills, but she now wondered if he had known what was coming to them in the Congo mission. The temperature control technique had saved them many times that day.

She stood inside the anteroom as the door behind her closed and the one at the front opened. To her surprise, the second door was no longer the immediate door to his cell, but it lead to another anteroom. She took another step to stand inside the second and third doors as the second closed behind her. An instant later, the third door opened and revealed Killian giving his back to her, standing by the opposite side of the cell, staring at who-knew what on the wall.

"I heard Tony almost died. Sadly, it was only an almost," the man jested. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him as she walked closer to the middle of the room and grabbed his only chair and sat in it. She crossed her arms and legs and waited for Killian to turn around to face her. When he did, however, Pepper noticed that his eyes were no longer their natural color, but were glowing orange in Extremis anger, and such anger was directed at her.

xxxXXXxxx

"Are you sure it's safe for Mrs. Stark to be in there with him?" Jane Foster asked as she alternated between gazing at her monitors and looking down at the stare-contest happening below them. "I thought you said this man is dangerous. I mean, I know he has the virus in him but…"

"Did Coulson tell you Pepper has it, too?" Fury asked.

"He said she has a different version –stronger than the original, but she seems so…"

"Normal," Darcy finished for her mentor. "She doesn't seem like she can kill a fly."

"She's killed a handful of men so far, and she has broken Killian's jaw twice. She'll be alright." Rhodey assured the two concerned women.

"You know," Darcy began, "Mrs. Stark was right: You are charming –among other things," she finished as she blatantly stared at Rhodey's butt. Rhodey decided he would have a better view of the discussion from the farthest point away from Darcy's predatory eyes and quickly made his way to it.

Not bad, Darcy thought as she continued helping Jane with the monitoring.

xxxXXXxxx

"I know about the Mandarin, Killian. I know you owe him your life, as insignificant as it is."

Aldrich flared his nostrils as he approached his bed and sat on the edge of it, only a few feet away from where Pepper sat. He rested his arms on his knees and hunched his back. Pepper noticed that his eyes still glowed orange and she wondered if he was doing it deliberately or if he was not even aware that his powers were very active at the moment.

"I don't owe anyone anything."

Pepper scoffed. "Is that the game you want to play? You can't lie to me, Aldrich. He told me; he told me everything."

"No one knows everything, my dear Pepper. Not even that piece of shit you call a husband."

xxxXXXxxx

"Why is he attacking Tony all of a sudden?" Steve asked to no one in particular. "He's never done that before."

"He's desperate," Clint answered. "He knows we have him in a corner."

"Or, maybe something's wrong with him," Jane suggested as she tapped her electronic tablet with her fingers. "See?"

Everyone present walked closer to where Jane stood and stared down at the images on the tablet. "What are we looking at?" Natasha asked.

"These are two charts comparing Killian's Extremis readings that Coulson gave me to what I'm picking up right now. I was able to work out an algorithm with Bruce that spits out readings in a much more detailed way; it turns out the charts of a 1.0 Extremis carrier are different than the reading of a 2.0."

"How so?"

"We haven't figured it out yet, but we think it's due to the code of the viruses being different. Without a newly infected host we can't really extrapolate the life cycle of the 2.0, but we have been able to find subtle emanations from hosts, which vary across types of Extremis."

"OK, ma'am, I didn't understand a word you just said. What does this mean now? Is Pepper in danger?" Steve asked, ready to pull his hair out of his head with all the science talk.

"Well, right now, Killian's readings are as powerful as a 2.0, but he doesn't carry that type of virus himself. I don't understand how he's doing this."

"Should we tell Pepper?" Rhodey asked.

"No," Fury responded. "It'll just distract her. If he's too much for her, we'll use the knock out gas we used in Congo. It will slow them down enough to get Pepper out of there. For now, let's give her a chance to do her job. I trust that she would do fine."

xxxXXXxxx

"We can make this easy or we can make it hard, Killian. Just tell me what you think I should know to help the Mandarin spare your life."

"Spare my life? Do you really think you have the power to do that? You don't know who you're dealing with."

"No one is invincible. I fought him; he can be defeated, if you tell me how."

"Can he? By you? He didn't kill you because he needs you, but as soon as he doesn't…"

"Then he will do to me what he did to you? Don't mistake my actions for kindness. I want you dead as much as he does, but for completely different reasons."

Killian smirked as he stood up from the bed and closed the distance between he and Pepper. He bent down and cupped Pepper's face with his left hand, giving her a wide smile. "I knew you had it in you; the desire to kill. I told you before, didn't I? I told you it would be up to you to decide who lived and who died. So, tell me Pepper, do I get to live, or do I get to die?"

Pepper stood up from the chair, forcing Aldrich to let go of her face.

"That depends on you. Are you going to tell me how to stop him or not?"

"I thought you knew everything, Potts."

xxxXXXxxx

The security guards at the entrance of the containment wing had been ordered to keep Tony Stark off the premises. There had been no such orders for Bruce Banner, but when he told them the Other Guy was getting pissy and wanted to come out and play, they had no choice but to let the two men pass. Once inside, Tony picked up his pace again as he tried to reach the monitoring station as quickly as possible.

Bruce was hot on his trail, also concerned about what Killian could do or tell Pepper. By now he was not sure if Killian was the real threat, and if the Mandarin had been behind the illusion of Agent Galaga he had seen on the recording, who knew what else the Mandarin could do from afar. His only regret was not figuring it out until now.

"Tony, calm down!" Bruce pleaded again to his friend, knowing Fury would not listen to Stark if he did not show some composure. As every other time since they had run out from the meditation room, Tony had not listened to Banner's appeals and had only quickened his pace. Bruce picked up the pace as well, and with strength he did not know he had, he grabbed Tony by his right wrist and left shoulder and pushed him against the wall of the narrow hall that led to the control room of the containment unit.

Tony hit the wall face first, and had he not been blinded by rage he would have immediately responded with an attack of his own. When he realized it was Bruce who was constricting him, the idea of slamming him onto the opposite wall dissipated. He was mad at him and at the situation, but not mad enough to physically hurt his friend.

"Let go of me," Tony said between clenched teeth. "I've got to get her out of there, she's in danger!"

"And we will, Tony, but you have to calm the fuck down. We don't know how it's going in there, and if Pepper is doing a good job at getting the information we need and we bust in there like this we may ruin whatever progress she's made so far."

"I don't care! The Mandarin wants her! What if he's there? What if he takes her? How could you keep this from me? My Pepper is in danger and you didn't tell me?"

"Stop struggling or the Other Guy is gonna kick your ass!"

"I don't give a FUCK! PEPPER! PEEEPPPEERR!" he began yelling from where he stood as he tried to pry himself from Bruce's surprisingly strong grip. "PEPPPERRR!"

In a quick movement, Bruce flipped Tony around and slammed him against the wall once more, grabbing onto the lapels of his shirt to keep him in place. Tony's eyes were still glued to the door that led to the control room, giving him a new understanding of the 'so close, yet so far,'" saying. "Bruce, let me go."

"Tony for fucks sake, THINK! THINK with your head and not your heart! If something had happened to Pepper we would've known by now. Do you want to put her in real danger? Do you?"

Tony shook his head. "No, of course I don't, but…Bruce, you don't understand…she's…everything…"

"I understand more than you think," Bruce spat. "Remember what happened last time you rushed into things? I don't know about you but I don't think I'd be able to save your sorry ass once more. It was a close call, Tony. Do you want Pepper to suffer again for your rashness?"

The thought of Pepper in pain halted Tony's efforts. The moment his head hung Bruce knew he had finally gotten to him. Tony was still shaking and took deep breaths to calm down. It was difficult for him to keep his composure when Pepper was in danger, but Bruce had a point that they did not even know if she truly was in peril at the moment. For all they knew, Pepper and Killian could be having tea and muffins and talking about the meaning of life.

"You should've told me sooner."

"Yes, I should have," Banner conceded, letting go of Stark. "But I didn't even know what I had seen or heard myself. This is why I suggested the hypnosis session. I think whatever Killian and the guy who visited him said will make more sense once we learn what happened during that fight. I didn't want to worry you for nothing. Pepper is my friend, too, you know. I wouldn't put her in danger if I could help it."

Tony looked up to face Bruce, and while his face showed no anger, his voice betrayed his real feelings. "Banner, I expect a friend of hers to let her know if she's in danger. And I expect you to tell me if something's wrong with her. Don't keep this stuff from me again. I know you meant well, but last time I kept a secret from her I almost lost her."

"And last time you kept a secret from us you almost killed yourself," Banner retorted referring to the Extremis dose Tony had injected himself with.

"That will never happen again."

"Alright," Bruce said. "Let's go watch Pepper kick Killian's ass."

xxxXXXxxx

"And I thought you were the only source of knowledge of the Extremis. Clearly, I was mistaken. You're as useless to me as you are to the Mandarin."

"What is it that you're trying to get out of me? A partnership?"

Pepper scoffed loudly and crossed her arms. "A partnership? I wanted nothing to do with you as business partners even before I knew how crazy you really are. Don't kid yourself, Aldrich. You need me more than you think."

"So, a deal then? What do you offer me? You have nothing I may want."

"Your life? Don't you want to keep your life?"

Killian laughed aloud. "You think you can guarantee me that? You can't save me from the Mandarin; no one can. He's gonna come for you because that's what he wants. Nothing you do or say is going to change that. The Mandarin has marked you, and he will have you."

"As opposed to you, Killian, I'm not alone in this. My team won't let him take me."

"That is where you're wrong. He IS going to take you, when you least suspect it. And he will use you for what he needs."

"Which is?"

"Wouldn't you want to know?"

"I can beat it out of you, Killian. Don't make me do it."

"Can you? Would you? You can't make me talk, Potts. Not now. Your threats are nothing compared to what he can do to me…to us."

"I can take him."

"No, you can't," Killian assured her. "No one can."

xxxXXXxxx

"Director, Mrs. Stark's readings are spiking. I think we should remove her from there." Jane suggested. "Her current readings are much higher than what the records show. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's about to blow up."

All eyes in the room fixated on Fury but the Director ignored them all. "No. We proceed as planned. Pepper has no need to self-regulate. She's just mad. She'll…"

The unexpected knock on the door made everyone jump out of their skin. Their eyes traveled to the now opening entrance of the control room to see a very flustered-looking Tony Stark and Bruce Banner walk in.

"I thought you two were meditating."

"Change of plans," Tony said as he neared the edge of the room to look down at Pepper and Killian. "We have new information. We don't need to talk to him. We need to sedate him, now."

"What? What do you mean?" Fury asked, not at all happy that his guards had let Tony walk inside the containment wing despite his orders.

"Tony's right, but we have no time to explain. We need to get Pepper out of there and knock out Killian. He might be the reason why the Mandarin knows what we're doing. I think he might be connected to him somehow, just as he was to his soldiers." Bruce said as slowly as he could to make his point understood the first time. They did not know if their theory was correct, but they surely did not want to waste any time in finding out the hard way.

"Pepper, Honey, can you hear me?" Tony whispered into the microphone that was linked to the wireless earpiece she wore when she visited Killian. "Get out of there now. It's not safe. Please, come out, now."

He saw the quick movement Pepper's eyes made to stare at the glass wall of the control room before returning her eyes to Killian once more. Tony noticed she did not make any move to leave the place, so the billionaire tried once more.

"Pep, I know you can hear me. This is important. I don't care if you think he's gonna tell you what we need; he won't. Please, please come out of there before I suit up and get you out of there myself. You are in danger there. Do you hear me, Potts?"

Everyone in the room noticed the sign that Pepper was listening to Tony when her eyes glanced toward the control room once more if only for a second before she returned her attention to Killian. Tony slammed his hand on the control unit in desperation and was about to try one more time when Bruce's exhale made him stop.

"Tony, he's there. He's there with them now."

"Who?" Rhodey asked as he looked down and saw no one else but Pepper and Killian. "Who's there?"

"What's going on in here?" Fury demanded but received no response from either man. He then turned to Jane who just shrugged at him, making the Director curse aloud.

Tony's self-control was slipping away once more. He grabbed the microphone again, closed his eyes and cleared his throat before speaking into it again.

xxxXXXxxx

"Pepper, please, listen to me. If there's ever a time you're ever going to listen to me, it's now. Who you think you're seeing is not who it is. I can't explain it right now, but believe me, it's not what it seems. You're in danger, Pepper. I know you're stronger than him, but he's not the only one there; you two are not alone. Please, get out, now."

Pepper's heart was beating like crazy and part of her wanted to listen to Tony's pleas and walk out of the room. However, she could sense Killian was about to break and tell her what they needed to know. She was torn between the knowledge of what had happened last time she had not taken Tony seriously, and the opportunity to learn what they needed from Aldrich. Against her better judgment, Pepper pretended to tuck her hair behind her ear but in reality she fried the circuits of the ear piece, effectively cutting communication with the control room.

"Then what do you have to lose if neither of us can take him, if no one can take him?" She continued.

"I have nothing to lose, but you do. He's gonna come for you, Pepper, and you won't even know what hit you."

"I'll be ready."

"Will you? You cannot offer to help me if you can't even help yourself. Will you be ready to see him kill everyone you love? He will do it, too. He's going to use you and when his use of you has ended, he's gonna kill Tony and he's gonna make you watch. And he won't be done then. No. He's going take everything and everyone from you, just like you and Tony have from so many people in your life. He's going to find your kids; those little brats are on his list, too. He will hunt them down, and when he finds them he's going to kill those little bastards of yours, one by one, cut off their heads and gut them while you watch knowing there is nothing you can do."

Killian's face ended inches away from a speechless and wide-eyed Potts, trying to further intimidate the woman by using his height over hers. His tactic worked for an instant and he thought she had been broken when her eyes closed, but soon realized his mistake when her eyes snapped open to show a red glow accompanied by a small smile.

Aldrich had the decency to gulp.

xxxXXXxxx

"FUCK!" Tony kicked the base of the control unit. "She fried the earpiece! She fucking cut communication with…" Tony's rant stopped when he heard Killian speaking again. Everyone froze in the room as they heard the lengthy threat Killian had just made to Pepper. Tony's fists went white with anger, his jaw clenched so hard he thought he was going to shatter his teeth.

"Let's get her out of there," Fury said in a low voice, giving the OK to Jane to release the knock out gas in the room. All eyes were glued to the scene below them. The moment Pepper opened her eyes the machine that Jane had been using to monitor their Extremis readings exploded, its damage extending to the rest of the console and thus ending the possibility of releasing the knock out gas Fury had just ordered. The sound grabbed the attention of everyone in the room until Pepper turned around on her heels and headed to the door.

"What's the melting point of steel?" Darcy asked, still horrified at what Killian had said.

"2500ºF, why?" Bruce answered.

"Because I think you're gonna need a big ass blowtorch to open that door," Darcy replied when she saw Pepper stand before the doors and melt the door out of shape and heat it up for it to be hot enough to slow down anyone who tried to come into the room and stop her from what she was about to do.

A/N: What is this? Another chapter marathon? Mayybeee…if everyone agrees :)