After the shopping trip, Pepper brought Biela back to the mansion, where she almost instantly crashed on the bed. The poor girl hadn't adjusted to the time change yet. She walked down to the lab, and found Tony working on the arc reactor. He had obviously showered and changed while they were out. "Hey," he greeted. "Where's Bee?" "Sleeping," Pepper replied. At his confused look, she replied, "Jet lag." He nodded knowingly.
"You busy, you mind if I send you on an errand?" Tony asked as Pepper walked over with her hands on her hips. "I need you to go to my office and hack into the mainframe, you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests. This is a lock jam," he said, handing her the device that looked like a USB. "This'll get you in." Pepper took the device hesitantly. "It's probably under executive files, if not, they put it on a ghost drive in which case you need to look for the lowest numeric heading."
"And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" Pepper challenged. "Same drill," Tony said. "They're dealing under the table and I'm going to stop them, I'm going to find my weapons, and destroy them."
"Tony," Pepper said with a sigh and a sad smile, "you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again." "There is nothing except this," Tony said. "There's no art opening, there is no benefit, there is nothing to sign! There is the next mission, and nothing else." "Is that so?" Pepper asked. "Well then I quit. And you should remember, Tony, there are other things. What about Biela? You promised to help her find her dad, and you promised to be her dad if she didn't want to go with him! You're all she has, and that girl should mean a whole lot more to you than your Batman crusade!" "Bee approves of my crusade!" Tony shot back. "And Jarvis started the DNA as soon as she got here, and it ought to be ready in a few hours!" "But does Biela want you risking your life when she's just found a home?" Pepper cried.
"No," a voice came from the door. "But can you stop yelling? I was trying to sleep." The two adults turned to see Biela standing at the door. "Sorry, Bee," Pepper said, tossing the flash drive on the table as she walked out. "You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction, and now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're gonna walk out?"
"You're gonna kill yourself, Tony," Pepper argued. "And I'm not going to be a part of it." "I shouldn't be alive," Tony said, sitting down. "Unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do." There was a moment of silence. "And I know in my heart that it's right."
"Miss Pepper," Biela said in a small voice. "Just Pepper, Biela," the PA said. "Pepper, the Ten Rings, the group that SI is double-dealing with…they're bad news. I know more about that organization, more about torture, interrogation, and destruction, than anyone should have to. Tony should destroy them. If they didn't have the Stark weapons, they'd be nothing, and they never would have taken me and my mom. My mom would still be alive. I never would have been raped."
"Raped?" Tony and Pepper said in unison. Biela nodded shakily. "Since my mom died when I was eight. The three months I was helping Tony was the longest respite I ever got. Pepper, somebody has to destroy them, and Tony's the only one able to do it."
Pepper walked over and grabbed the flash drive. She sighed, looking straight at Tony. "You're all I have too, you know. You and Bee." She walked out the door.
Pepper walked out of the elevator onto the top floor of the Stark Industries building: the CEO's office. Luckily, everyone was out. She walked quickly to Tony's office and closed the door behind her. Sitting behind the desk, she jiggled the mouse to close the slideshow of Tony's cars and opened the login screen. She dug the flash drive out of her purse and put it in. It bypassed the login with a master override, just as Tony had said. It quickly found the ghost drive and opened the files.
The first two were shipping manifests. The third showed what looked like the armor suit with information about Sector Sixteen. "Sector Sixteen?" Pepper said aloud. "What are you up to, Obadiah?" The fourth file was a video recording of terrorists and a man with a sack over his head. They pulled the sack off. It was Tony. Pepper quickly typed 'TRANSLATE' in, and it was translated to English.
"You did not tell us that the target you paid us to kill was the great Tony Stark. As you can see, Obadiah Stane, your deception and lies will cost you dearly." "Oh my God," Pepper whispered. "The price to kill Tony Stark has just gone up," the man said. Pepper quickly copied all the files onto the flash drive.
"So," a voice came from the door. Pepper jumped with a gasp. It was Obadiah. "What are we going to do about this?" Obadiah smirked as he went over to the side table and poured himself a glass of scotch. Pepper watched him nervously, glancing at the computer. "I know what you're going through, Pepper," Obadiah said. "Ah, Tony. He always gets the good stuff, doesn't he?"
Pepper smiled in relief as she gave a slight nod. She discreetly moved a newspaper over the flash drive. As Obadiah walked over, she turned on the screen saver, revealing Tony's car collection. "I was so happy," Obadiah said, "when he came home. It was like he was coming back from the dead. Now," he said as he sat down, "I realize…well, Tony never really did come home, did he? He left a part of himself in that cave. Breaks my heart."
"Well," Pepper said with a gulp. "He's a complicated person. He's been through a lot, I think he'll be alright." "You are a very rare woman," Obadiah complimented. "Tony doesn't know how lucky he is." Pepper smiled and blushed. "Thank you, thanks," she said as she moved to stand up. "Better get back there," she said as she grabbed the newspaper and the flash drive.
As she pulled her purse over her shoulder and walked out the door, Obadiah asked, "Is that today's paper?" Pepper froze. "Yes," she said with a smile, turning around. "Do you mind?" Obadiah asked, holding out a hand. "Not at all," Pepper said, handing him the paper while keeping her hand tightly clenched over the flash drive. "Puzzle," Obadiah said in explanation. "Of course," Pepper said. She walked out the door. "Take care," Obadiah called out behind her.
Pepper tried not to quicken her pace as she glanced at the flash drive. She knew Obadiah would probably see what she downloaded. As she walked down the stairs, she saw Agent Coulson sitting in a chair in the lobby. "Miss Potts?" he asked. "We had an appointment. Did you forget about our appointment?" "Nope, right now, come with me," Pepper ordered. "We're gonna have it right now, walk with me," she said. "Okay," Agent Coulson said, noticing her anxiety and matching her quick pace. She looked up and saw Obadiah staring at her. He knew. "You're getting the meeting of your life. Your office."