Pepper thinks of her herself as a determined woman who's not only fearless and competent, but also unflinchingly self-assured.

Because anyone who can date Tony Stark for longer than three hours must have the patience of a saint and the persistence of a damn bull.

But she's not complaining. She's been with Tony for as long as she has because she loves him. Sure, he's got his quirks and yes, he's hard headed and rarely listens but the man has never failed to be there for her when it mattered. It's the reason why she deals with not only his stubbornness and hovering, but also his obsessive need to protect everyone but himself, his passion for his work, his loyalty that smothers her, and his genius that carries him away. She puts up with all of those things because that's the Tony she fell in love with.

She also knows that Tony has come a long way in the last couple of years, and she suspects that having to fly a nuke into space that was meant to kill him has really changed him as person. Probably for the worse rather than for the better. It hurts to see what used to be his effortless charm be replaced by a ghost of his smile that looks fraudulent even to the untrained eye.

Considering all of the traumatic events in Tony's life that could inevitably lead up to this exact moment, Pepper wonders how it took so long to happen. However, she's curious as what exactly, after all this time, triggered such a severe response in the genius that would cause him to resort to such withdrawn behaviours.

How did we get here? she thinks.

"Tony, I know you don't wanna talk about...whatever it is that's bothering you," Pepper says through the intercom, "but I thought we had finally established open communication. That we established trust."

That's a low blow and she knows it but the woman is getting desperate.

"Do you not trust me, Tony?"

Pepper presses her hand against the glass door as she continues to watch the other man sit facing away from her. She gives him a moment, letting him take the lead on what happens next but is also prepared to override her way into the workshop should it come to that.

Thankfully, she's spared from such drastic measures when Tony is seen turning his head slightly to face Pepper. She sees his mouth move and assumes he must be talking to J.A.R.V.I.S. and is proven correct when the door suddenly unlocks with a hiss. She prepares herself for the blast of music to come through but is shocked when there's only silence from the other side.

This causes Pepper to worry.

The CEO takes a tentative step inside, carefully avoiding the delicate pieces of equipment laying around. As she moves towards her boyfriend, she notices that he has yet to turn to face her fully. Pepper extends a delicate hand and places it softly on his shoulder, which causes Tony to finally turn around.

"Hey," he says. "I'm sorry for...making you wait. I just...needed to think."

"I figured as much."

A few beats of silence follow as Pepper regards the other man while he desperately looks at everything else but her.

"Is everything alright, Tony?" Pepper's voice is but a whisper, though in the eerie silence of the room (which was completely unnatural), she may have just shouted at the top of her lungs. "This isn't like you. Talk to me."

The blankness on Tony's face is suddenly filled with a look of regret as he turns around to face his girlfriend properly. He's still avoiding eye contact but moves to grab Pepper's small hands and holds onto them on his lap. When he talks, he sounds almost guilty.

"I do trust you, Pepper," he says, referring to her earlier inquiry. "Nothing in the world would ever change that. I just needed to figure some stuff out on my own."

"And did you?" she prods.

Tony sighs and shakes his head slightly. "No. I don't think I did."

Pepper gently removes one of her hands from Tony's grasp to grab a chair from nearby, and places it directly across from Tony. She takes a seat and places her free hand on top of his.

"Well, maybe I can help you figure things out then," she adds. "You know you can tell me anything."

Tony looks up to meet her gaze and smiles softly. Something akin to affection is laced in his smile and he gently cups her face with his hand.

"I really don't deserve you, Pep," he whispers.

Pepper smiles fondly as she whispers back, "no, you really don't."

The two of them laugh softly before Tony begins to relay the morning's events to her. About how he was responsible for a near fatal accident during their mission, how he zoned out during Steve's lecture, and how Natasha had so casually suggested he kill himself when all he did was sass her. Well, he didn't tell her exactly what happened with Natasha but Pepper was persistent if not inquisitive, and Tony was highly confident that she would find out through her own means.

When he's done explaining to her the many things that went wrong, Tony notices a little too late the sheer antagonistic blaze of fury in her eyes. Intuitively, he knows it's not directed at him but it still gives him the chills. He already feels sorry for whoever bumps shoulders with her on her way out.

In the meantime, Pepper is furious. She didn't know that Tony wasn't an official avenger, that he worked as a consultant for SHIELD. But more than that, she didn't know why Tony never told her.

Deciding to field these thoughts for another conversation, Pepper refocuses on a more serious issue. Tony was hiding something from her, and she knows that because she didn't miss the way he stumbled over the part about Natasha, struggling to cover up the details of the very thing that may have sent him in lock down in the first place. Something must have happened in that short span of time because Tony, for all his theatrics, never tried to make a point in private. If he wanted to put to Natasha in her place, he would have done so on the spot and none would be the wiser.

Resolving herself to dig deeper, likely with the help of J.A.R.V.I.S., she focuses her attention back on Tony. Pepper offers him a gentle smile when he looks at her nervously and says, "That sounds...complicated. We'll talk about the consultant thing later but for now, let's go grab some lunch because knowing you, the last time you ate was probably two days ago."

Tony opens his mouth to protest but is swiftly interrupted.

"Don't you dare tell me I'm wrong," she retorts.

Tony huffs with little indignantly at that and gets up from his seat to embrace her.

"Fine. I'll go eat but I'm only doing so because I love it when you dote on me."

Pepper playfully rolls her eyes and pulls away from his embrace to make her way towards the door.

"That's right. Lap it up now because it's not going to last."

She hears her boyfriends footsteps follow behind her along with the sound of his laugh, much lighter than it was minutes ago.

And he's back, she thinks as they make their way upstairs together.