A/N: New to this story? Make sure to read its prequel – SHADOWS OF THE PAST. Otherwise, welcome back! I don't own IM3, or Marvel or RDJ…though the last one wouldn't hurt.

Remember most of my stories, including this one, are written for the half-screen option here at FF. You'll see fewer line/paragraph breaks if you set it to half-screen.

SUMMARY: With most of their problems solved, newlyweds Pepper and Tony Stark embrace their future together and tackle the challenges of parenthood, hoping for normalcy to finally arrive to their lives. However, when you're married to a retired superhero and are about to become one yourself, living a normal life is NOT an option. SEQUEL TO SHADOWS OF THE PAST.

WARNING: My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;)

This is just a tease of the awesomeness to come!

MAN IN A CAN

Prologue

The design of the prison cell that S.H.I.E.L.D. had created for the Hulk was dwarfed in comparison to the containment unit they had created for Aldrich Killian. While the man was not as strong as the raged beast, his ability to melt to ashes whatever he touched made it difficult to find the appropriate material that would keep the scientist from escaping his new permanent home. Fearing the U.S. Government would abuse the knowledge Killian held regarding DNA and brain manipulation, S.H.I.E.L.D. had spent days and nights making sure the man was beyond reach, save for a selected few.

Their security protocols had been tested when, after only a week since subduing the former CEO of AIM, a handful of his Extremis soldiers had tried to breach the facility to release their master. The surprise attack had been a wake-up call for Nick Fury, who had been left with no option but to bargain with the leader of the perpetrators. In exchange for his knowledge and cooperation, Nick Fury had given the mad scientist three things.

The first bargaining chip had been access to a television set, complete with surround sound, cable and satellite services, and even a DVR, which Killian daily enjoyed for hours on end. Having nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, the scientist's restlessness was diminished by the simple contraption. He knew that his freedom from the base was not going to come to him unless he called upon his entire army, but calling upon them all at once would only make it easier for his death to come to him. He had become aware that his latest scheme had attracted the attention of the last enemy he had made before attacking Stark, and such enemy was certainly looking to get even. He had no other option but to make himself at home in the tiny cell while S.H.I.E.L.D. inadvertently protected him from the real monster behind the creation of the Extremis 2.0.

The second privilege Aldrich had negotiated with Fury was reducing the days he was put under sedation. While the R&D group at S.H.I.E.L.D., and Tony and Bruce themselves, figured out how to prevent Killian from manipulating Pepper once more, Killian had been put under an artificial coma. This practice had been increased after the attack of the five Extremis soldiers to keep the casualties as low as possible. Nick knew that the attack had been planned by Killian not as an escape option, but as a way of showing what he could do if given the chance. When he had been questioned about how to find the identity of his army that was still at his disposition, Aldrich had laughed out loud, saying that Nick could not imagine how many people he had infected while he was presumed dead for the past year. An actual number or locations were not released.

As a result of learning Killian still had the option of causing havoc while under surveillance, and at the same time needing him awake to expedite the search for the other Extremis soldiers before another mad scientist decided to study one of them and use their power for their evil plans, Nick had agreed to reduce his coma-induced episodes as long as he provided a way to find the other infected humans. Aldrich had agreed to giving up the method to finding and curing his army, but had also placed a strict condition of when, where, how, and whom to slowly release this valuable information.

The third condition Killian had placed had been unexpected, and while Nick had already intended on recruiting the new superhero in town, he had despised the fact that her first mission would be to face and work with the man that had made her life miserable in the past. Despite what others thought about him, Nick Fury respected his team, and while placing them in dangerous and uncomfortable situations was not out of the norm, the fact that he was placing a mother in danger hit a chord within the veteran strategist. He knew Pepper had not asked for the responsibility that had befallen her when she was forced to go undergo the acquisition of the Extremis virus, but this did not mean she was immune to sharing the obligation of putting her powers to good use.

Thus, when he had been left with no option but to show up at the doorstep of her new home to discuss her important role in clearing the world of the Extremis soldiers, he had done so with a humbleness and reluctance that was not characteristic of him. He had known bringing her on board was already going to be difficult due to the expected resistance from her husband, but he had trusted her strong character would not be affected by Tony Stark's rants.

Tony and Pepper had been as shocked as Fury had been, when he was forced to relay to them the severity of the Extremis virus' spread. However, this shock did not compare to the rage that filled Tony when he learned that Aldrich had agreed to help exterminate his own army if and only if Aldrich himself was the one who taught Pepper how to use her powers with the ease he possessed.

Pepper Potts-Stark did not like the idea. Nick Fury did not like the idea. General Rhodes and Happy Hogan did not like it, either. However, they all agreed that the evil was more than necessary for the sake of the greater good.

Tony Stark, on the other hand, DESPISED, LOATHED, and HATED the idea.

He despised it not only because Aldrich would bask in Pepper's presence without deserving it, but also because he understood Pepper's involvement with the Avengers Initiative was essential. He loathed it because, in the blink of an eye, their roles had been reversed, and it was now his turn to feel the frustration and anxiety that came from seeing the one you love risk their lives every day to save others. He hated it because Pepper's new abilities made him feel inadequate to protect her. Pepper could easily kick his ass (since he would never fight back) and look beautiful while doing it too, but the idea that she did not need him for protection irked him. He had hoped for a normal life. He had hoped for his worst problems to be nothing more than getting a call from his kids' teacher about their misbehaving in school. Above all, he had hoped to spare Pepper from the life he had given up.

It was a silly notion, he knew, but it did not make it any less attractive than the new reality of their lives. At no point before the day Nick Fury had appeared at his home, had Tony Stark hated himself so much from ever uttering those words that changed his life.

I am Iron Man.

Back then, he had felt indestructible, invincible, on top of the fucking world. Today, he just considered himself, more than ever, nothing more than a man in a can.

A/N: YAY! Welcome back, all! This story is going to have a little bit more action than the previous one, and I hope to bring some of the other Avengers into the mingle. As far as updates, my business launches on June 1st, so they might be delayed. I hope you still decide to stick around :D