Summary: Tony being Tony calls in a meeting with the Avengers and the extended family to tell the amazing idea he had: create Steve a playlist of their favorite songs to help with his adaptation.

or

… the time when Pepper was kidnapped and Tony put her in Steve's care while he killed the people responsible.

Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts, Jarvis.

Relationships: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts.

Tags of the chapter: Extremis Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers is a good bro, Rhodey is a good bro, team as family, Jarvis' organizational skills.

A/N: Playlist available on Spotify with the songs of the chapters posted. Check it out and tune each song with your reading! Link available on my profile.

Something to Hold Onto

Chapter Six, Barton Hollow, 2011

"Cap! Please-" Tony' voice cracked and Steve worried at the seriousness of the situation, because Tony never lost his shit like this when he was in battle mode.

When Steve had asked to stay at Tony's Malibu house, he had been hoping for some quiet alone time. They had just finished a long clean up after raiding a Hydra facility who also employed Neo-Nazis who had been experimenting on people. No Avenger was unscarred after that and they all silently agreed in coping in their own way.

Natasha and Clint went off-grid, Thor went to Iceland to be with Jane while she tracked some data related to the Bifrost, Bucky whisked Darcy away from said country and took her to London for alone time with her. Wanda and Pietro had left to South America – God only knows what the twins were up to. Sam went to the Avengers training facility in Upstate New York to debrief for the team with Hill and Fury.

Bruce went to Nepal to do humanitarian work and the green in his eyes when he left his Stark phone before he left served as enough indication that he should not be bothered for any reason as it could provoke a Hulk-out with the power to level Europe.

Tony had chosen to stay in New York and he was clearly intent on spending countless hours either working on his workshop or lab. His eyes promised days to be fueled with caffeine and sheer willpower to keep going – with a hint of mild insomnia.

Steve on the other hand wanted warmth, quietness and solitude, thus his choice to go to Tony's Malibu hose.

It had been five days since the team had dispersed and Steve could feel himself beginning to feel nearly human again, until he received Tony's frantic call saying that Pepper had been kidnapped during a meeting in Dubai and that he was bringing her to Steve's care. That way he could go back and kill every single one of the bastards who had hurt her.

There was such a strain to his voice that it made Steve immediately reach for his shield and suit, telling Tony that he could get the jet ready and meet Tony and help killing every single one of her captors.

"Please-" Tony tried to start again. "I can do this by myself, and I already let Rhodey know – he's in Africa right now. I just need to keep Pep safe. And she'll be safe with you right now." There was some static before Tony continued speaking. "I'm so worried about her, Cap. I need her to feel safe while I do this."

Steve left his suit where it was and grabbed his shield, moving to the front door to wait for Tony to arrive.

"ETA is fifteen minutes."

The captain had steeled himself to what to expect, as Tony had put him on edge for not giving details about what had happened, but nothing could have prepared him to what he was about to face.

He half expected Tony to arrive with Pepper on his arms – but that would have been illogical as she would freeze to death during the trip from Dubai. No, Tony arrived in his Iron Man suit and was surrounded by the Iron Legion Army suits. As Steve approached them, he saw that the suits were around a different suit in the middle, guarding it. Tony quickly left his suit and moved towards the middle one, reaching it a few seconds before Steve.

"Jarvis, open the suit."

Steve's reflexes kicked in when the suit opened and an unconscious Pepper fell forward.

"Shit."

In his defense he hadn't meant to say that aloud, but he could not help it after seeing Pep. She was always so collected and the woman in front of him looked like she had been through hell – which in all truth, she probably had. Her hair looked dirty and messy; her clothes looked like anything but Pepper's clothes. Her shorts were too short and her top doubled as a sports bra.

As Tony gently picked her up, Steve could see that her arms had several needle marks and his mind was transported back to the facility used by the Neo-Nazis and his heart clenched because he knew Tony must have fought the same thing.

He followed Tony inside and quietly watched as Tony took her to the master bedroom and put her down on their bed. Pepper definitely looked small and fragile on the gigantic bed.

"What happened?" His voice was barely a whisper and for a second he thought that Tony had not heard him, but after a few seconds, he turned and walked outside the room and Steve followed.

"I think they were related to AIM, or at least they knew enough about it!" Tony gritted his teeth. "Remember how I said I had stabilized Extremis enough to remove it from Pep? Well, let's just say that I lied."

Steve raised his eyebrows and quietly waited for Tony to explain.

"Pepper and I talked and we agreed to let her have Extremis, but we also agreed not to tell anyone for her safety. That way, if she was in danger and we weren't close she could at least defend herself." His body shook as he took a deep breath. "I'm not sure about the details, but it all leads to the assumption that the group targeted her because she was the last person alive who had survived the Extremis experimentation. When she defended herself, the group realized she was still active and captured her. They had all the right equipment, Steve!"

The soldier put a steadying hand on the engineer's soldier and squeezed it to show support without interrupting what Tony had to say.

"I found her strapped to a table with several needles pumping God knows what into her body! Her skin kept dangerously glowing orange and the look on her face-"

"Sir, the Colonel is on the War Machine suit and says he'll arrive in forty-five minutes."

Tony looked at Steve who nodded.

"J, put all the power on the propulsion system and get me there as soon as possible. Also figure out a power source for when I arrive."

The last thing Steve heard before Tony left was Jarvis saying that the propulsion system was at 100% and that he informed Rhodey that Tony would arrive fifteen minutes after he did.

Steve thought the suits would leave with the Ironman suit, but they didn't. Instead, they started flying around the house, joined by the sentinel suits from the house and half an hour later by the ones from the Tower in New York.

The captain set his shield next to his chair when he saw that Pepper was waking up.

"Pep." He was almost holding her hand when her skin began to glow orange – signalizing that she was becoming conscious and was not yet aware of her surroundings. "You're safe. Tony brought you to Malibu. You're safe."

It took a minute but then Pepper was fully present and she moved with an agility that Steve did not know she possessed. She dashed past him and ran through the house she knew so well. Steve ran after her and only caught sight of her red hair as she ran down the stairs that led to Tony's workshop.

"Jarvis?" Steve asked breathless with fear, as he could not locate her.

"Ms. Potts is in the Extremis containment room that Sir designed if she ever felt that she could not control herself. Much like Dr. Banner's Hulk room."

"Is she in danger, Jarvis?" Steve asked as he located the door to the room and walked towards it.

"No, her anxiety levels are up, but she has acknowledged that she knows she is out of danger. I believe she is trying to protect you, Captain."

Steve waited for Jarvis to open the door and walked into the room.

"Pep?"

"Don't come in, Steve. I don't want to hurt you, please." Her voice was strained and she backed up to a far away corner of the room, distancing herself from Steve out of fear of hurting him. Her skin was still glowing orange as she began to sink to the ground, knees pressed closely to her chest and tears slowly leaving her eyes.

"You won't hurt me, Pep." Steve walked into the room and slowly approached her with cautious steps and hands raised. "I trust you."

She began shaking her head and the tears left her eyes in a fast pace. She tried to merge with the wall behind her when Steve was near, afraid that she would burn him accidentally, but Steve was having none of that and pulled her into his arms anyway.

"Steve-" She sobbed as she held him close to her, quickly forgetting that she could hurt him and finding comfort in his arms. "I hurt T-Tony!"

The captain ran his hands up and down her back, ignoring how her hot skin felt uncomfortable underneath his fingers.

"I freaked out! I burned him, Steve." Her words were slurred and broken from the tears and sobs.

"Pep, it's not your fault and Tony knows this. He was so worried about you; I doubt he's even concerned about that." He kept running his hands up and down her back, as it seemed to be helping at least with her temperature. He was glad to see the glowing diminishing until completely disappearing. "You are going to be okay, Pep. Tony will be back in a few hours and you're going to be okay."

Her crying took a long time to diminish and didn't completely stop, as every now and then a few tears escaped her eyes. What worried Steve was the way her body was shaking and how intense were her sobs.

The shock of what had happened was sinking in and Steve wanted nothing more than to slap her out of it and was about to speak again when he felt her pushing him away with one hand as she raised the other to her mouth. Steve helped her get up and she ran with shaky legs to the bathroom.

He held her hair as she threw up and held her after she was done, only then beginning to calm down. He lifted her up from the floor and smiled softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his chest.

Steve stayed in the master suite's bathroom when she asked not to be left alone as she showered. He dutifully guarded her from the evils of the world while Tony tried to stop said evils. He started filling the bathtub for her, adding lavender scented bath-salts and bubbles to help her relax and averted his eyes as she moved from under the shower to beneath the white foam.

He sat on the floor next to the tub and waited for her to put her thoughts in order. He was surprised when he heard her soft mutter.

"It's not Alabama clay that gives my trembling hands away, please forgive me, Father. Ain't going back to Barton Hollow, devil gonna follow me e'er I go. Won't do me no good washing in the river, can't no preacher man save my soul."

Her words had a rhythm that he could not entirely place and her voice gave way to an accent that Steve hadn't heard before. There was a southern drawl to her words and he frowned lightly.

"Pep?" His questioning tone asked many things.

That seemed to snap her attention to the present and she blushed faintly.

"It's a song. It was playing in the car before the ambush." She smiled sheepishly as she looked at Steve. "I kept repeating the words in my head in order to calm down, since they wanted to make me lose control of the Extremis. And now they're stuck in my head."

Steve smiled proudly at her self-control and relaxed, knowing that she would be all right.

"Jarvis? Can you play Barton Hollow?"

"Certainly, Ms. Potts."

The AI started the song and Pepper finally began relaxing in the bathtub, softly singing along to the song that kept her mentally stable during her capture.

"Miles and miles in my bare feet, still can't lay me down to sleep. If I die before I wake, I know the Lord my soul won't take."

"J? Add this to my playlist, okay?"

A/N: Song: Barton Hollow, by The Civil Wars – 2011.