Next chapter! This one's very short and I'm sorry for that. There are many parallel storylines at the moment, but I plan to let them flow together soon. I know it looks like very much right now. I hope my plan works, in the past days, I've thought about it very much. I hope you like this either way, let me know what you think! And thank you so much for the reviews!

I don't own the characters or places!


"Wait, she's got a brother?" Pepper asked, not able to hide her surprise. "But why did she lie, when he really needs help?"

Tony sighed. "Ask me another question I can actually answer." He muttered. The rest of the day had passed rather quickly. After Hill had left, Tony discussed this whole business with Steve. He believed her, but still thought that she should have asked for help earlier. And Tony and Steve agreed that the Avengers shouldn't intervene in this more than necessary. Which meant that Tony would ask Rhodey for help, but not more. He would be in New York in a few days, however Tony had called him after Steve left. He wanted this story to stop, he'd give Hill her information and then he didn't want to hear anything of it anymore.

The rest of the day, he'd spent with Bruce in his lab. They were doing research on the base in Alaska and next to that, they were working on Extremis. Secretly, of course. Pepper would freak out if she knew that Tony still had that substance. And that he thought of using it again one day.

In the evening, he'd gone to bed with Pepper early. And that's where they were now, lying in bed, arms wrapped around each other. He just told her about their conversation with Maria.

"Maybe she didn't want anyone to know that her brother's in trouble." Pepper suspected.

"And then you just try to hack into top secret government files?" Tony asked and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh come on, you'd do anything if Rhodey or Steve were in trouble. Or if it was me. Doing something illegal wouldn't stop you." Pepper smiled slightly, knowing that she had a point there.

"I'm not like Maria Hill at all." Tony grumbled.

"And that's good. If you were so full of yourself, I would never like you." Pepper ran a hand down his back and kissed his cheek.

He raised an eyebrow. "I am self-obsessed." He reminded her.

"But not that much anymore. You've changed. And you're different. You're not always taking yourself seriously."

"Are you sure?" He asked thoughtfully.

She nodded. "I know you better than you do." She said in a convinced tone.

He grinned. "Sometimes, I really think you do." He admitted slowly. However, his smile faded quickly. "I really hope this will be settled soon. We've got enough problems on our own already."

Pepper sighed. "Sadly, you're right. But don't worry, Rhodey will get her the necessary information, and then SHIELD will deal with it alone. I'm sure you won't even be needed anymore."

"I don't have that much trust in SHIELD anymore. Neither does Steve." He explained.

"Doesn't surprise me, after everything that happened." Pepper agreed.

They were lying there in silence for some time, Pepper's fingers were drawing random patterns on Tony's back. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. "I'll just have to stay in the tower tomorrow, then I am free to go again." He muttered suddenly.

"Yes, but you still have to stay calm, your leg needs to heal. And your back is still covered in red and purple bruises." She reminded him.

"Doesn't mean that we can't go out."

At those words, Pepper leaned back and looked at him with raised eyebrows. She was clearly surprised. "You want to go out with me?"

He nodded and smiled at her. "Why not? I've got a beautiful girlfriend and we're in New York. Let's have some fun."

She chuckled. "The last time you said we were having fun, it ended in disaster." She said slowly, he knew that she was thinking of the charity gala.

"But this time, it'll be just you and me. No one else and no cameras. We can go out for dinner, there are a few nice restaurants close to the tower. Or we can leave the city, head north. A day outside of the city where no one can bother us. Doesn't that sound good?"

"I can't just leave for an entire day, I've got a company to run." Pepper's voice was hesitant, but he could hear the longing in it. She wanted to be alone for some time just as much as he did.

"The company will be fine for one day without you." He muttered and began to kiss her cheek. Then he let his lips wander down her throat. Pepper sighed, her eyes were closed now.

"But there are so many things that I have to deal with…" She stopped when he moved further south.

"Can wait for one day." He whispered again and rolled them over, so that he was on top of her. "Let's do this. And I'll turn off my phone, then no one can bother us."

"Time just for ourselves sounds good." She muttered breathlessly. "No SI, no Avengers, no Iron Man…"

"Just the two of us." He agreed and grinned when she buried her hands in his hair. Then she pulled him towards her and kissed him passionately.

"Alright, we'll do this." Pepper smiled at him widely, her eyes were shining. "Maybe we can also leave for two days…" She suggested, looking at him innocently.

"Make it three." He muttered huskily and kissed her again.


"We'll leave next Friday." Tony said two days later. He and Pepper were sitting in the kitchen together, having breakfast. The other Avengers weren't up yet, it was still early. "You have the weekends free either way and if there's an emergency, someone else can deal with it. And the others will be fine for a few days without me."

She raised her eyebrows, but she was smiling. "And you think you can do that? Three days without your technology?"

He nodded immediately. "I bet you can distract me from it."

Now she grinned. "I think I can do that." She agreed. "I look forward to it."

"Me too." He smiled slightly. "So you'll go and see our new employees today?"

She nodded. They'd hired a few more technicians for the new reactor in New York. Pepper would say hello to them, she said it was good when all the employees knew her. Building trust and things like that. "You're sure that you don't want to come with me?" She asked again. She'd already tried to convince him, but he had something else in mind.

"There are still so many things I have to deal with in the lab, then there's the problem in Alaska, and today, I'm officially free again." He explained. "And besides, I'll meet them in two weeks, when I'll build the reactor. If the material will arrive by then."

When he mentioned the material, Pepper grimaced. They'd ordered it months ago, but somehow there were still things missing. And without them, Tony wouldn't be able to work properly. This never happened before. "This time, everything will work." She'd called the responsible companies a few days ago and they'd assured her that the material would arrive in time. "So I'll see you again this afternoon?"

He nodded. "And today is movie night. Clint and Thor chose a few action movies, I bet it'll be hilarious to watch them."

"You mean when they comment every scene because it's unrealistic?"

Tony grinned. "It's worse when we're watching science fiction."

"Oh I can imagine." Pepper muttered and stood up. She kissed Tony quickly and grabbed her purse. "See you later."

She headed for the elevator and Tony waited until she left. Then he headed to the garage. He needed to get something in the city and it would take some time. Luckily, Pepper would be busy the entire day.


In the afternoon, Tony was standing on the roof of the tower. His trip to the city has been successful. At least, he hoped that Pepper would like it… He grinned when he thought of the small box that was hidden in his lab now.

"JARVIS, did you find anything?" He asked, looking at the sunset over the city.

"Yes, Sir. A few cameras have recorded a movement that it similar to the one you saw last week." JARVIS informed him.

"Where and when?" He activated his new suit. He'd fixed the stabilizers days ago, this time everything would work.

"The last record was made about ten minutes ago."

"Tell me where." Tony muttered and jumped off the roof.

With JARVIS' help, finding the person wasn't difficult. Tony decided not to show himself, wanting to watch the person first. This time, the suit worked and he was able to follow the person. It was a man, JARVIS had been right. He didn't look very muscular and not very tall, probably he was still young? He was wearing a mask, so Tony couldn't see his face. He followed him for some time and in the end, Tony knew what was strange about him.

"It looks like he's holding onto cobwebs." JARVIS said after they'd analysed the remains of one of the ropes. Just that those weren't ropes.

"Cobwebs?" Tony muttered and shook his head. Why was he still surprised? His best friend was a super soldier and he was living under the same roof with a god and a man with incredible anger issues. "Let's follow him some more."

He did. And for a long time, the man just jumped from roof to roof. Sometimes, he stopped, but Tony didn't see the reasons why. In the end, he vanished in a small alley of which Tony knew that it was a dead end. After a few minutes, a young man left the alley. He was very young, with brown hair. Before he moved on, he looked around, probably to make sure that no one saw him.

When Tony entered the alley a few minutes later, no one could be seen. "JARVIS, it seems like we've found him. Do you have the face?"

"Of course, Sir."

"Find out who he is." He muttered and headed back for the tower.


Steve was already waiting for him on the roof. "Where have you been?" He asked when the suit vanished in the new reactor.

"Testing the new suit. The stabilizers are working now." Tony explained. "What's up? You're looking tired."

"Sam called half an hour ago." Steve explained. "He's still following Hydra."

"That's good, so they didn't catch him." Tony muttered when they went inside.

"Yes, and he says that they have Bucky's trace. He was able to listen to one of their conversations." Steve was looking unhappy, despite the good news.

"What else did they say?" Tony raised his eyebrows. at him and chuckled when Steve looked at him surprised. "Oh come on, you're looking like something really bad happened. You're not good at hiding your feelings, Steve."

They sat down on the couch in Tony's personal living room. "Sam also heard what they plan to do, once they find Bucky."

"Let me guess, they want to turn him into the Winter Soldier again." Tony suspected.

"Yes, and you'll never guess who the target is."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "I suspect not you anymore?"

Steve nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "In a few months, there'll be a peace conference in Vienna. Apparently, there'll be someone who's caught Hydra's interest."

Tony frowned. "Politicians?" He muttered, thinking about it again. "That doesn't seem to fit, does it?"

Steve shook his head. "Sam also doesn't understand it. He wanted to hear more, but they moved further north then, so he couldn't follow the conversation anymore."

"JARVIS, we need to know who's invited for that conference." Tony said. "And underline everyone who could be of interest for Hydra."

He exchanged a look with Steve. "This seems to get more and more complicated."

Steve nodded. "We have to stop Bucky, preferably before Hydra can control his mind again."

"Would be good… Otherwise, we just try to hit him on the head very hard." At Steve's shocked expression, Tony shrugged. "It works with Bruce."

"You're impossible." Steve muttered, but didn't have a better idea.