It's been a long time coming on this fic, I know, but a BIG thanks to my dear friend, nancyozz, for helping to ignite the creative fires again! Many, many, many thanks!

Happy Reading! And thank you to all of my lovely reviewers! :D

Bruce smiled, hesitating. "I-I'm not sure I..."

"Was it at a symposium or some kind of tech conference? It seems like he meets the majority of his acquaintances at events like that," Pepper offered.

Bruce teeter-tottered his head for a moment, considering her words. "It wasn't a...a formal event, no, but...we did meet with others...like he and myself who..." he stammered. Then he stopped, holding his tongue, and giving her a polite smile. "You know, I've already said too much," he told her. "You should talk to Tony about the rest of this."

"The rest of this? What is there to know? Was it some kind of...top secret..." Pepper joked at first, but then stopped, as Bruce let out a telling exhale and pursed his lips. Her eyes widened.

He grimaced and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything," he murmured quietly.

Pepper looked at him with trepidation. "Bruce, what is Tony involved in? Tell me. He's my husband. I need to know."

Just then, someone knocked on the door, and they were interrupted. "Mrs. Stark?" a female voice said. "We're here to take you down to radiology?"

Pepper huffed, and looked at Bruce. "When I get back, we'll continue our discussion," she warned in a hushed voice. "But just tell me this. Is it...dangerous?"

Bruce frowned, unable to escape the pleading, and fretful look in her eyes. He had never been a good liar. He'd always just tried to avoid getting himself into these types of situations. But as she'd unexpectedly asked him these questions, he really didn't see how he could avoid answering her in some way. He'd done his best to give her minimal information, yet still she'd deduced that his and Tony's association was far from ordinary. "It's...not without it's fair share of responsibility," he answered, thinking that would be ambiguous enough to suffice.

But Pepper furrowed her brow. "So that means yes," she replied. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips.

Another knock came from the door. "Mrs. Stark?" the nurse called again.

"Yes! I'm sorry! Come in!" Pepper called back, and she and Bruce exchanged glances, hers full of trepidation, and his sympathy.

"Ready?" one of the nurses asked her cheerfully as she entered, another one following behind her. Pepper nodded at her with a weak smile. Then she flicked her eyes back to Bruce as they began to roll her out of the room, keeping his gaze until they turned her away. He mustered a pleasant grin, and weakly waved at her as she left. Then, when she was out of sight, he sighed heavily, and turned to plunk down onto a chair, scrubbing a hand over his face.

What on Earth am I going to tell Tony?, he wondered.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony was waiting for Marilynn to come outside. He'd been standing in he and Pepper's driveway, leaning against the driver's side door of the R8, enjoying the sunshine, when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, and his eyes immediately widened when he saw the name on the caller ID as Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

His heart dropped into his stomach as his hands fumbled to answer the call. "Hello?! Hello!" he said, finally succeeding and bringing his phone to his ear, and thinking the worst.

"Tony?" he heard Pepper's voice say on the other end. He would have been relieved to hear her, but she sounded upset, which did almost nothing to ease his panic.

"Pepper?! What's wrong? You okay? What's going on?" he asked.

"I need you to tell me right now what you and Bruce are involved in," she said sternly.

Tony sighed heavily. "Well, this came up quick," he muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

He heard some rustling and muffled voices, then Bruce's voice became clear. "Tony, I tried to keep it quiet. But she was asking questions, and you know I'm not much of a liar..."

"What have you told her? How much does she know?" Tony asked.

"Just that we know each other because we're involved in something that's supposed to help protect the world. That's all she got out of me. I buttoned up after that," Bruce replied.

Tony pursed his lips. "Pass me to my wife, please, Bruce," he said.

"I'm sorry, Tony. But she was relentless. What was I supposed to do?" Bruce asked.

Tony huffed, and then chuckled in defeat. "I see some things haven't changed," he joked to himself. He rolled his eyes, and smiled at the thought that, in all she'd been through, Pepper had kept her innate tenacity. "It's not your fault, Banner. It was bound to happen. Granted, I didn't think it would be this fast, but..."

He heard Bruce sigh heavily on the other end. "Glad to know you're not pissed," he said. "I thought I'd blown it for sure."

"Well, ya' did," Tony joked. They both laughed. "But it's cool. All's forgiven. Like I said- she was bound to find out somehow."

He heard some more rustling, and then Pepper's voice again. "Tony?" she said. "What does he mean by you're helping to protect the world? Something tells me it's not exactly being part of the 'adopt a highway' program," she quipped.

Tony chuckled. "Uh, no, it's not, Pep. And I promise, the second I get there, we'll talk about it. Face to face. Okay? For now, though, can you let Bruce off the hook? You've put that poor man through enough."

"What! I needed to know! How else was I going to get my questions answered?" she asked. Then he heard her exhale. "But fine. Just...get here. Soon," she insisted before relenting.

"Just so you can interrogate me next?" Tony joked.

"Well, that, and..." she paused. "I...miss you, okay? That's a fair thing for the woman who's supposedly your wife to say, isn't it?" she joked.

Tony's lips spread in a giddy grin. "Oh, definitely" he purred. He noticed at that moment that Marilynn had come out of the house. He nodded in her direction, and she smiled back. "So you like having this guy around?" he purred into the phone to his wife as he quickly rounded the car to open the door for his mother-in-law to get inside. She cooed and smiled at the chivalrous gesture. Tony flashed her a charmed smirk, and nodded.

"Well," Pepper began. "If we're being honest, I've...always liked having you around," she divulged.

Tony's eyes went wide, and he gasped. "Potts, you naughty girl! Can't get enough of me, aye?" he teased.

He heard Pepper giggle, and he closed his eyes, relishing the musical sound. Another thing I've missed about her, he thought fondly. "Well, truth be told, I've always like having you around, too," he admitted.

"Explains the reason for all of the late nights spent at the mansion doing busy work," Pepper deduced.

"Ah. You're onto me," Tony joked.

"Can't say I didn't suspect," Pepper replied. "But I usually just chalked it up to you being eccentric and demanding."

"Hey!" Tony cried. Pepper giggled again on the other end, and he couldn't help but chuckle back, the warmth of the moment between them bathing him in old familiarity. And it felt good.

"Well,your eccentric and demanding husband is also your mother's ride back to the hospital, who has just made an appearance. So I'll see you in a flash," he said.

"A law-abiding, speed limit obeying flash, I'd hope," she said. "I doubt anything has changed in the way you drive."

"Pepper," Tony warned. "I've got your mother in the car. I have to behave myself."

He heard snickering. "Yeah. Like having a passenger has ever stopped you from driving like you're in the Grand Prix."

"Ha ha! That's where you're wrong," he challenged. "I've driven in the Grand Prix. And this is nothing like it."

"What?! When?!" Pepper exclaimed.

Tony smacked a hand to his forehead. "Yeah, okay, my bad. We...uh...should probably talk about that, too. Okay! Love you! Gotta go! Bye-bye!" he babbled, quickly hanging up as Pepper spluttered and scoffed at his admission.

"Whew!" he breathed, trying to catch his breath in reaction to how fast everything had just happened, before yanking his own car door handle open and climbing into the driver's seat.

Marilynn looked at him with wide eyes once he got inside. "Everything alright, dear?" she asked.

Tony jabbed the ignition button, and the cars engine roared to life. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I just...I've got some explaining to do when we get back to the hospital," he said.

"Explaining?" she asked cautiously. "Honey, is something wrong?"

Tony smiled. "Pepper's just...got some questions," he said, shrugging, trying to downplay the abruptness of it all. "A lot of questions," he muttered, as they pulled out of the driveway.

XxXxXxXx

The two had made it to the hospital, and walked up to the floor of the ICU. Bruce caught Tony in the hallway, and the two men started speaking softy to each other as Marilynn went on to enter the room without him.

"Tony, I hope you know I'm sorry for saying anything out of turn. It's just...she caught me off guard. And I didn't know...I mean, I wasn't prepared to..." Bruce spluttered, but Tony raised a hand in dismissal.

"No harm, no foul, Banner, I promise," Tony assured. He shrugged. "Like I said, it was bound to come up somehow. So better late than never, I guess."

Bruce smiled in understanding. "Yeah," he agreed. "Better she hear it from you, first, than Fury call you out on a mission, and suddenly she finds out her husband flies around the globe fending off the world's most notorious criminals."

Tony chuckled. "Is that better?" he joked. Then he grimaced. "God. When you put it like that, I'm even a little shocked by it all."

Bruce nodded in understanding as Tony turned his eyes to the window of Pepper's room, and watched she and her mother interact. A fond smile spread across his lips. "I'm just glad she's back, you know? Otherwise, all of that would have quickly lost it's worth."

Bruce watched his friend in admiration for a moment. "I'm sure," he agreed. "It's good to know you've got your fight back. Your reason to live. If I may be so bold."

Tony smiled and turned his eyes back to his friend. "I know, right? Things were looking pretty bleak, there, for a minute."

"They were, yes," Bruce replied. "I know Colonel Rhodes was concerned."

Tony cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Bruce nodded. "He said as much. He knows how important she is to you," he said, nodding his head in Pepper's direction.

Tony smiled bashfully, and nodded. "She's the most important thing to me. Hands down. Bar none," he affirmed, looking lovingly at his wife once more.

"Colonel Rhodes is a good man," Bruce said. "I enjoyed his company. Anyone would be proud to call him a friend."

Tony looked back at his friend, and grinned. "Funny," he said. "He said the same thing about you."

Bruce just smiled bashfully, and averted his eyes. "Thank you," he said. "And tell him thank you when you see him."

Tony smiled in admiration at the humble man standing in front of him, so unassuming. And a small pang of sorrow suddenly hit his heart. As far as he could tell, Bruce's job was done there. So, he assumed that meant he would take off again to somewhere in South America. And disappear. It's always a bitch trying to find him again, Tony lamented, frowning. He looked at his friend. "So...what are your plans, Bruce? After all is said and done here?" he asked.

Bruce shrugged and smiled. "Doing what I do best. Going back to the simple solitude of life off the grid, and..."

Tony's eyes suddenly fell past Bruce's shoulder to a figure walking toward them, and they widened. It was Dr. Cho, carrying what looked like the results of Pepper's scan. He held up his pointer finger to Bruce. "Hold that thought," he said.

Bruce turned to look at what Tony had spied, and then turned back around, nodding in understanding. "Ah. The moment we've all been waiting for," he said quietly.

Tony smiled, and exhaled nervously. "That it is," he said. "Where the metal meets the meat, as they say. Ready to see just how well our little experiment went?" he asked.

Bruce nodded. "More than ready," he replied.

XxXxXxXxXx

As soon as Marilynn entered the room, she lovingly greeted her daughter with a big hug, asking her how she felt and how the brain scan had gone. And Pepper cheerfully answered her mother's questions, but was a bit distracted in her responses, as her eyes shifted to her window, where she saw Tony and Bruce talking in the hall. She bit her lip and frowned, hoping Tony wouldn't be too hard on Bruce revealing the fact that they were involved in something extraordinary. But what?, she asked herself. All she knew was that she could hardly wait for she and Tony to be able to have a moment to talk about everything, and she could start to piece the puzzle together.

"Well, you look beautiful, darlin'," Marilynn said, stroking her daughter's hair, and smiling. Pepper smiled back.

"Thank you, Mama," she replied. "But I'm afraid all I feel right now is weak. I can't even stand on my own, at the moment."

"But you will, honey. Just have a little patience," Marilynn said. "It helps that you've got people who love you around to support."

Pepper nodded. "It does," she agreed. Her eyes flicked back outside the window to Tony, and an admiring smile spread across her lips.

Soon, Pepper saw Dr. Cho join the men outside, and her heart leaped into her throat. "Oh my God," she whispered nervously.

Her mother patted her hand in reassurance. "There now, honey. I'm sure it's nothing but good news," she said.

Pepper swallowed hard, and nodded. "I'm sure you're right," she replied. But that still didn't help the nervous pit in her stomach.