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Break

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Heels clicked on metal and any other day Pepper would have dismissed the sound. Now it seemed to echo down the idle room. The game room was used to impress women and sometimes business associates with tales of celebrities and things that in a normal day Tony couldn't be bothered with.

Her eyes fell on the chess table, game mid-played. It was one of Stark's few exceptions, although Pepper couldn't remember the last time he had sat down for a game. She suspected it had been with Obadiah. The pieces were inspired by Kandinsky, custom made of ebony and marble contrasting shapes. Like much of Stark's collections the set must have cost a fortune.

In spite of the name, there were very few functional items. A case filled with tin toys (German originals, not the collector's remakes floating about the markets, as Tony had pointed out to her once) rested against a north wall. He liked the simple mechanics about them, he claimed, although had never elaborated.

However, entertainment was not what Pepper had in mind so she continued through the room and there, on the other side of a display case and sprawled across the white fabric of a couch, laid Tony Stark. It was strange, watching him sleep and a smile played on her lips until she saw the glass on the ground. It still had remnants and she knew the amber color well enough to guess what was inside.

"Oh, Tony," she whispered, releasing a disappointed sigh. Pepper crouched down, picking up the glass as her arm brushed his extended hand. She tried to ignore it.

"Jarvis, what time did he get to sleep?" she whispered before straightening back up.

"Approximately 7 a.m.," Jarvis replied in his usual nature that seemed to resonate loudly through the silence.

"Wha…" Tony jolted unexpectedly and Pepper released her own squeal of surprise, quickly clasping the glass in her hands before it crashed to the ground. "I'm awake!"

"Jarvis!" she scolded after her own heart stopped pounding.

Two hours, Pepper realized. That was hardly enough time. But now Tony was sitting up on the couch and clutching his head as his thoughts came back into place.

"I'm sorry, Ms Potts, but I was under instruction…"

"…to wake me when she did," Tony interrupted in a grumble. "Not when she waltzes into the room."

From the tone, Pepper wondered how much of the alcohol lingered in his system, "I assure you, Mr. Stark, there was no waltzing." Adding for good measure, "You should have gone to bed."

From the ache in his shoulders that twinged as he got to his feet, Tony wholeheartedly agreed. But he wouldn't have traded the results of the evening for anything.

"There was work to do," he replied, stretching. Tony remembered the importance and brushed past the curious woman.

"There's always work to do," Pepper reminded. And she was very curious. She turned to see him motioning her to follow, "Why are we here?"

"Come here," Tony approached a display case, the metal-fronted drawer below gave away as he pulled.

Pepper stepped up to his side, looking in with surprise. It was a broken mesh of electronics and metal casings, but she easily recognized the damage, "That's…"

"The thing that attacked you on the balcony," Tony confirmed. Then he reached to the glass enclosure above, tapping the necessary code in order to retrieve an object that looked like a robotic mouse. "Now, have a look at this," Tony flipped the mouse on its backside and twisted a metal flap away.

The motion suggested he had already loosened the piece, as part of his insomniac activities, Pepper gathered. Still, she noted the marking inside. It was a simple design, joined circles within a crescent, but she didn't recognize the source.

Then she looked at the piece of broken metal in Tony's other hand, bearing what appeared to be the same symbol, "Is that from the same manufacturer?"

"Different model, but yes." Tony put both back in the lower drawer and sealed the glass casing. He spun to address her with a smug expression of discovery, "I got the first one at the iRex convention."

Pepper struggled to remember and once the memory triggered, realized why it wasn't all that difficult, "That was the one in Tokyo? Last year?"

It took him by surprise, "You remember?"

"I had to arrange your drive back to the hotel," Pepper caught his eye.

He looked uncomfortable and Pepper contained her amusement. In all respects it was about time he felt uncomfortable with the events of that night, among others.

Tony cleared his throat, "Oh, right." Shaking the embarrassment away, he continued, "In any case, only five of these were given away by the head designer, Ronarudo Inoue, in return for grants, and things of that nature. One of them personally handed to yours truly."

"Well, then wouldn't they know you'd find the connection?"

"Not necessarily," Tony yawned and Pepper pushed aside the immediate urge to ask if she could get him some coffee. He continued after recovering his voice, "Especially if I'm all panicked over your wellbeing, which was the initial plan." They both ignored the sentiment.

"So, this guy had changed his name around, to make it more universal I guess, but I found him working for, as we already suspected, Blue Sun Enterprises." He paused, as if that gave away the answer to all their questions.

Pepper was well aware Blue Sun was involved, as her evening encounter had informed her. But what she couldn't understand was what exactly Tony had learned from this new discovery. His mind was working, but she just couldn't follow.

Confused, she questioned, "So how does this help us?"

"Lou Jia handles most of the company personally," he explained. Tony smiled, pulling a business card from his back pocket. "Except for this branch…"

He handed her the card and Pepper stared at the name and specialty. It was one that Mr. Stapleton had failed to provide. He probably didn't even know.

Nothing was sacred when money was involved, as the room's occupants had recently learned first hand, and in Pepper's personal opinion Tony had experienced enough betrayals already from his limited number of confidants. For Pepper the memory was still fresh, but when she looked up her employer gave no indication of any personal feelings involved on his part. Perhaps he was just handling the situation better than she was?

Still, he waited for her response so Pepper stated her suspicions, "You were up all night…"

"Security system is fixed," he stated nonchalantly, as if that was an acceptable excuse. Pepper would never openly admit that it was. "No more listening ears. No more peeping toms." He gave a thoughtful shrug, "Unless you count me, I guess."

"You're incorrigible," Pepper sighed with a smile. He only grinned in return before walking away.

"Let me get washed up. I need coffee. We can grab some food," Tony turned curiously. "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"What?" Pepper glanced back up from the card in her hands. "No."

"Good!" He spoke with enthusiasm and started towards the kitchen. "So we'll get some food. Have a sit-down with Fury and his team to explore some options. Dregg isn't going to wait around for us, so we have to get going."

Pepper began to trail after, "You know how to find Fury?"

"Absolutely," Tony continued through the doorway and out of sight. "Popped in last night, though the location's pretty unique. We're going to have to take a flight."

But it would take hours to arrange for a plane, "How are we…" …and he made it sound as if they could leave immediately. It hit her suddenly and her breath caught. Pepper stopped short in the empty room, "Oh no!"

Tony noticed she hadn't followed and she could hear his voice down the halls, "Pepper?"

"No!" She repeated sternly, loud enough for him to hear. "Absolutely not!"

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A.N.- Took a bit of time off for a week of birthday events, so had me distracted as well as work on some of my original stories. So happy about that, but not so happy this has been taking me a little longer. Mostly got stuck on a technicality in the next chapter, but should have it soon.

Also, title is in reference to a chess move.

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