Here's the next chatpter! I'm sorry that you had to wait so long, but I'm really busy at the moment. I've got my final exams and I have to learn very much. It's not always easy to find the time to write, I hope you understand that. Thank you very much for the reviews, it made me so happy to red them! And please let me know what you think of this chapter as well. The idea just came to me today, I couldn't stop myself from writing it. Sorry for possible grammar mistakes, it's very late by now.

I don't own the characters or places!


The first thing they saw when they got out of the car were the lights of the cameras. People were already shouting at Pepper to look at them so they could get a good photo when they noticed that Tony had left the car as well. And that's when it all seemed to escalate.

"Mr. Stark!"

"What are you doing in LA, Mr. Stark?"

"Look into this direction!"

People were trying to get closer to them, just to get a good photo of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts walking towards the building together. Probably for those magazines which would dig up every little scandal that had happened in the past.

Pepper had still turned her back to all the people, waiting for Tony. He grinned at her and she smiled. "Come on, let's give them something to talk about." Tony muttered and wrapped his arm around her waist. Together, they turned around to face the people all around them. Later, that picture would be on the cover of most of the magazines and even some papers. And maybe it would also be the background of Tony's phone?

Slowly, they entered the building, Tony's arm still wrapped around her waist. "People are staring." Pepper whispered to him, still smiling and looking carefree. Tony knew that she was feeling uncomfortable. She had never liked the attention of too many people and ever since their break, she was insecure about herself. He hated it. And he hated himself for doing something like that to her. However, she was a good actor. You had to know her very well to notice it.

"Of course they are, you look stunning, Pep." Tony whispered back, trying to calm her down. He greeted a few people who seemed to know him (though he didn't know most of them). and kissed Pepper on the cheek. "You need to relax, this evening should be fun."

"Because parties are always so fun when you had a few drinks and I have to make all the conversations with people I don't even know. People who actually want to talk to you." He forged back a sigh and looked at her, still smiling. Why on earth did she have to talk about this now? On the evening of a charity event, when they were already at the event and everyone was staring at them?

"You don't need to worry." He muttered and stopped in front of the room where the main event with all the dancing and talking took place. "I stopped drinking and I won't do it again. So today, I'm going to talk to people." He gave her his most charming smile. "I want you to enjoy this evening. I'm not going to ruin it, I promise."

"You did… what?" Pepper's confused expression was nothing he'd expected as a reaction to this. He'd expected her to be more… happy.

"I don't drink anymore. No alcohol, I'm done with it. Stopped the moment I left for New York." He shrugged. "Not a big deal."

Slowly, Pepper seemed to understand what he'd just told her and her expression turned sceptical. "Why would you do that?"

Before Tony could answer, someone called his name. Without thinking about it, Tony smiled widely and wrapped his arm around Pepper's waist again. Next to him, Pepper was smiling as well. When did they become this good in acting?

"Tony Stark, what are you doing here?" The man who was walking towards them now was tall, with grey hair, black glasses and he was wearing a horrible blue checked suit. Tony recognized him immediately, though he hadn't seen him in years.

"Journalist." He muttered to Pepper. "I was invited and I came." He said more loudly. "It's good to see you, Thomas." Luckily, he remembered the name of that man. "Haven't seen each other in ages."

They shook hands. "The last time when you were still in the weapons business, I think." He turned to Pepper and smiled at her. "And you must be Mrs. Potts, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Thomas Brown."

"Hello, Mr. Brown. You're working for one of the big newspaper agencies in LA, if I recall it right?" Pepper said politely.

"Call me Thomas, please. And yes, even if I have been staying abroad for a few years. I was in Australia, working on a few articles about big projects in architecture there." Tony noticed that he sounded proud. Architecture? So Thomas had changed his subject. The last time Tony had seen him, he was working on big projects about weapons. That's how they met. They had an interview, about a year before he'd been captured. After that, Tony hadn't seen him again.

"Why architecture?" Tony asked and Thomas chuckled.

"War cannot be everyone's business, Tony. Working on those things for over ten years had been enough for me. I wanted something new. Something less… violent." At the last word, his smile became a little sharper. Of course it was a swipe against him.

Pepper seemed to notice that too. "Well, that's also the reason why Stark Industries chose to work on clean energy." She cut in immediately. "Now we're doing something more useful. With our new technologies, we can change the world and make it a better place for everyone." In this moment, Tony loved her even more than before. How was it possible that this amazing woman wanted to be with him?

"I've heard about your projects. Cities that are running completely with clean energy. Those news have even reached me in Australia. How long would that last before the reactor had to be loaded again? A year, right?"

"Two years." Tony corrected him. "I've made some changes. And my latest technology will last even longer, it's still in the test phase. But I expect a much longer lifetime."

This time, Thomas looked truly impressed. "How do you even have time for this? I've heard that the Avengers are also back together, so you have to be very busy."

Tony smiled. "I can handle it." He said simply. "And if you want a statement on the projects of SI or the Avengers, you have to make an appointment for an interview, I fear."

"However, you shouldn't expect to get a statement soon. We at Stark Industries are very busy at the moment, I fear our schedule is full for the next months." Pepper added with her most convincing smile.

"And the Avengers are also busy. I think the statement I made to the press a few weeks ago is all we can handle at the moment. After all, we've got to save the world." At the last sentence, Tony shrugged. "But since it isn't your area of expertise, you surely don't want to talk about boring stuff like that."

Thomas was looking at them silently for a few moments. Tony would have liked to laugh at his confused expression, but Pepper squeezed his arm to make him stay silent.

"It's true what they say about you." Thomas said finally.

"And what do they say?" Tony asked slowly and raised his eyebrows.

"That you're a good team." He shook his head and smiled again. "I think I should get going, there's this famous architect here I wanted to talk to. Maybe we'll see each other again soon. Tony. Pepper." With those words Thomas turned around and walked away, into the direction where all the voices and the music came from.

"That was interesting." Pepper muttered. "I didn't like the way he was talking to you."

"I've noticed." Tony kissed her quickly. "We do really make a good team."

"We do, right?" Now she smiled and her cheeks were red. He loved it when she blushed.

"Now let's give the people in there something to talk about."

Hand in hand, they walked right into the crowd.


After most of the people had accepted Tony's presence and stopped asking him why he was here and if he was alright, everything was fine. They talked to some business partners of SI, most of them had met Pepper on meetings before. They were really nice and soon, the conversation turned away from the business and towards other things. It only got uncomfortable when it turned to politics and problems in this world.

"We have to stop all this fighting. People are dying every day. Men, women, even children. And no one's been able to prevent it yet." The wife of one of their business partners said now. She was working for an aid organisation, she'd told them earlier. One that took care of people who'd lost their homes in the war. Or in the events that used to follow a war.

"It's not that easy, honey." Her husband said slowly, his name was Ben, Tony remembered now. "They're doing everything they can."

"But it's not enough. There has to be something they can do. You can say it all like this so easily, Ben. You haven't seen it. All the pain that has been caused by a war. The panic and the fear. Those people who survived that will never be alright again. Even if we help them now." She was looking very frustrated and Tony exchanged a look with Pepper. She bowed her head slightly. Are you alright? that gesture said. Of course she knew that it wasn't easy for him to talk about something like this. Because he'd also seen it all. He'd caused many of those things. And it still haunted him. Suddenly, Pepper took his hand and squeezed it. He smiled at her.

"And what should they do? They can't just go there and attack all the people who want to start a war." Another woman threw in. "That would also cause one."

"But then both sides would have their own weapons and would be able to defend themselves. Now they're attacking helpless people."

"Anna…" Ben said slowly, but she shook her head.

"Wouldn't it be fairer? When both sides have the same chance to win?" Did both sides ever have the same chance? Tony wasn't so sure about that. There was always something that caused an imbalance. Better weapons, more people, different technology…

"Maybe we should talk about something else?" Pepper threw in lightly and ripped Tony out of his thoughts.

"You shouldn't say anything to this at all, I think." Anna said now. "After all, you've been working for that industry for years. You've been working for him." Now she pointed at Tony angrily. "That's how you made your money, Mr. Stark. With killing people. You might not have done it yourself, but you gave many people the opportunity to do so. Which makes you not better than all the other people."

Before Tony could say anything, Ben interrupted his wife again. "Anna! Would you please stop this?" He glanced at Tony and Pepper. I'm so sorry his expression said.

"Why should I stop this? It's time that someone tells him what kind of person he is. But he doesn't care about it either way, does he? After all, he's better than everyone else in this room. And he's also an Avenger. Which makes him even more popular. Save the world once and everyone forgets that you're a monster, right? Wasn't that what you thought in the first place?" Luckily, the music around them was very loud and they stood in a corner of the room, not too close to others. Otherwise, this could have been even more awkward. Tony noticed that next to him, Pepper was staring at the woman angrily and Ben also opened his mouth to say something again.

"I know that it wasn't right." Tony cut in quickly. "And I know that you won't believe me when I say that it's not easy to carry such a burden. I've made a mistake, that's true. I've changed my ways and ever since, I'm trying to make the world a better place. I hope that I can really make it a better place one day." He ran a hand through his hair. "I understand your anger and probably, I even deserve it. Just believe me when I say that I've learned from my mistakes." He inhaled deeply, trying to collect his thoughts. "And to your suggestion, would it really make a war fairer when both sides have weapons? When both sides can prepare for the attack? Yes, they would see it coming. And besides that?" Tony looked at Anna patiently. "There would also be many people dying. That wouldn't change. I've seen enough fights, it's never fair." He forced his most relaxed smile onto his face. "If you would excuse me? I need some air." Without looking at any of them anymore, he turned around and walked into the crowd.


When Tony left, they just stood there in silence. Anna was looking taken aback and Ben eyed his wife angrily before he turned to Pepper. The other couple who stood at their table was looking down at their glasses silently. It was obvious that they felt really uncomfortable right now.

And Pepper? She was feeling… well, numb. She didn't have expectations about this evening. Honestly, she had hoped that it would be nice. That she could have fun with Tony. It's been too long since they'd done something like this. Now she remembered why they stopped to go to those events on some point. Because there was always this one person who wanted to tell Tony Stark just how bad he was. Normally, Tony just shrugged it off. He smiled at that one person, laughed in his or her face and everything was alright again. Today was different.

She knew that the past months hadn't been easy for him. And now someone mentioned one of the things that bothered him the most about his life… They'd never really talked about this. Pepper never tried to do it and Tony didn't either. When he'd decided to turn his back on the weapon industry, they'd just closed that door behind them. And it had been closed for years. There had been other things on their minds, like the company and of course Iron Man.

"I'm so sorry." Ben said finally and cleared his throat. "Anna didn't want to insult him like this." He said hesitantly. But she did Pepper thought. And she knew what she'd been saying. Anna hadn't touched alcohol the entire evening. So every word had been well considered.

"I'll just go and make sure he's alright." Pepper said and grabbed her things. "And it's not your fault, we won't hold it against you." She whispered into Ben's ear before she turned around and began to look for Tony in the crowd. It was true, she didn't want to lose Ben as a partner for SI. However, when Tony decided that he didn't want to trade with him anymore after this, there was nothing Pepper could do.

When she hadn't been able to find him ten minutes later, she was starting to get nervous. Where was he? He would've told her if he left, right? Suddenly, one last place to look for him came to her mind. There was a balcony at the other end of the hall, the perfect place to look down at the small garden of the estate.

She began to walk towards it quickly, ignoring the people who tried to talk to her. Pepper always just smiled politely and continued to walk. Right now, it really wasn't easy to look carefree. But there were many journalists present and she didn't want them to think that something was wrong.

When she saw the familiar figure standing on the balcony, she breathed in deeply. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her carefully.

"I should have thought that you would come here sooner." Pepper said when she stood next to him. "It would have saved me many questioning looks in there." He wasn't looking at her and Pepper touched his arm carefully. "Are you alright? I know that it wasn't easy for you to listen to that conversation."

"But she was right, wasn't she? I did that to all those people. And then I just moved on. Started something new, I built the reactor and the suit, started to be Iron Man. And then there are the Avengers…"

"You're doing so much good in this world, Tony." Pepper whispered and squeezed his hand. It was cold. "You've saved so many people as Iron Man. And together with the Avengers, you saved even more. And you regret what you've done before. You suffered so much because of it. We never really talked about it before, but I know it."

Finally, he looked at her. The sad expression on his face nearly broke her heart. "But is it enough? Am I really doing enough, Pep? You've heard it yourself, there are still so many people fighting, so many wars. Innocents are dying. Can't we do more to save them? "

"You're already doing something." She said immediately. "You're fighting to make the world a better place every day. With all your inventions and your plans. And most importantly, you give the people hope. Iron Man gives them hope. What would we be without that?"

Slowly, a small smile spread on his lips. "It sounds so good when you say it like that."

"You are a good person, Tony. And everyone who counts knows it. Don't let people like that make you think something different."

She wrapped her arms around him. "I love you, Tony." she whispered and kissed him. She tried to put all her feelings in that kiss, the love she felt for him, how proud she was and how important he was to her. What would she be without him? Could she even be without him?

Suddenly, his arms are at her waist and he kissed her back. When they parted, he was smiling slightly. "You're amazing. And I love you too, Pep." He sighed. "I'm sorry that I let her get to me like this. It's just that I'm thinking about everything a lot at the moment and then something like this just… it caught me off guard, I think."

"You don't have to apologize. It's not a bad thing that you can't just shrug something like that off easily. It means that you've changed. And you have changed very much in those past months, Tony. And besides, I know that those times haven't been easy. I was also close to pour my drink at her." She touched his cheek carefully.

He closed his eyes at the contact. "I think it'll get easier again soon. And then I'll also be able to ignore something like that again." He opened his eyes slowly. "You wanted to do what? I didn't expect that from you."

She chuckled. "Maybe I'm also still a little stressed at the moment."

His expression became softer. "Do you want to go home?"

She thought about it for a moment and shook her head. "We didn't dance yet. Unless you want to leave. After everything that happened…"

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and kissed her again. "Let's give the people something to talk about." He breathed in deeply and just like that, he looked happy again. Maybe not completely carefree, but his eyes were shining when everyone stared at them when they stepped onto the dancefloor. Pepper smiled widely as well.