"What on Earth were you thinking?" was the first thing Tony heard upon entering his house in Malibu. He knew it was coming, especially after what he did. He had been dreading coming through this threshold for a number of reasons, the first of which being dealing with Pepper.

Instead of answering, Tony sighed and slid his sunglasses off of his face, setting them down on the glass table next to the door. He couldn't blame her one bit. Only a moment ago he had been coming out of the hospital from visiting Happy and had instantly been surrounded by reporters asking him all kinds of questions about the Mandarin that he couldn't answer. Of course his pride and impulsiveness had gotten the better of him and he went off on a tangent, eventually threatening the terrorist and inviting him to his house... his damn house. Sometimes he felt like he was watching himself from outside of his body, unable to stop himself from doing the most stupid of things.

"Sometimes I think you're 50% pride, 50% ego, and 100% pure testosterone." She kack and change ept saying as she made her way down the stairs, arms crossed over her chest. Tony stood there in his jeans, tight t-shirt, and suit jacket, raising his hands in the air defensively as if to say "what am I supposed to do".

"Listen, if I could go back and change it, I would." he said, trying to bicker back but feeling disheartened. After all, how could he argue against something he knew to be true?

"Well you can't, and now there's a terrorist coming to kill us. Do you only think about yourself?"

Tony threw his head back and groaned in frustration.

"Pepper, I know it was stupid. I don't know what else to do, though. Everyone is expecting "Iron Man" to swoop in and save the day. You don't understand the pressure that the world can put on you when all of the weight and responsibility of saving this God-given planet is on your shoulders." he said, getting louder and more worked up as he talked. He didn't mean to take his frustrations out on her, but he felt trapped. It was all on him now. He had revealed himself as Iron Man however many years ago, and now everyone expected him to beat the "bad guys". That was his first mistake as Iron Man; admitting he was Iron Man.

Pepper stood there, three feet in front of him with her body still rigid and her arms still crossed over her chest. Tony avoided her eyes, not wanting to confront what he just said. They stood like that for a while, quiet in an awkward silence.

Finally, he sensed Pepper moving. She took a few steps forward, closing the gap between them. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, taking in the perfect fall of her red hair, the way her small figure looked so delicate, so vulnerable, especially to the people and creatures out there that wanted to see Tony burn and who would go through her to make sure he did. Lately he had been realizing the true threat out there. He felt like his death was inevitable; that both of theirs was. The one thing he wanted to do was protect Pepper. That's all he wanted.

Tony felt Pep's arms wrap around him, one around his back and the other at the back of his shoulders, her hand reaching up to push her fingers through his hair. He sighed and felt himself physically relax, his body loosening up from its tense form. He let his head fall on her shoulder as she tightened her arms around him, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"I'm sorry." he whispered. Pepper didn't say anything, but instead kissed the side of his head. Tony took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down before he freaked out again like the other day.

"Can we at least get out of here?" Pepper asked, stepping back and looking at him hopefully.

"What, why?"

Pepper frowned at him in disbelief as if he was talking like an insane person.

"Uhhhhh because there is a serial killer terrorist coming to get us."

"And what, you don't think I can protect us?"

"Have you seen the news?"

"Ughhhhh, Pepper." Tony complained, walking away and running through his hair in frustration. "You need to get out." he said, turning around and looking into her infuriated eyes. "I can't." he said a little quieter.

"Yes you can, and you will." she said, stalking off towards the grand staircases once again. Tony watched her go, knowing full well that he wasn't going to change her mind and he wasn't going to change hers. They were both stubborn like that.

"Pep, I love you, but I'm not leaving."

"And I love you, which is why we are." she called back from upstairs. Tony sighed and closed his eyes. This was not going to be easy.