Chapter Six

Author's Note: Hello! The good news is I'm updating early. The bad news is I'll be away all weekend and won't be able to read your lovely thoughts on this chapter until Monday. I look forward to your opinions however.

And now we return to the main plot!

"Nothing to do, no way to go home. I wanna be sedated." "I Wanna Be Sedated"- The Ramones

A few days, that what Tony had told her. Just a few more days and she'd be safe on the helicarrier with her dad. Give Gene or the Mandarin or whatever-the-hell he was calling himself now time to forget her existence and this would all blow over. Then she could return to her life and her boyfriend and everything could get back to normal.

Pepper had now been at the temple in Greenland for over a week. A few days her perky ass.

Tony had come to visit exactly once in all that time. The young genius showed her a new room she hadn't noticed before; a library. Was he trying to give her a hint? He had brought her a few groceries and a few...ahem...feminine hygiene products. Watching Iron Man shopping for tampons would have been high entertainment indeed. He didn't know what she needed so he bought her five of everything. No girl needed that much Summer's Eve at once.

He seemed evasive when she mentioned Rhodey or her dad and got downright testy when she asked about Happy. He told her Happy was now in a lighter coma and all his vitals were good, considering he had been hit with an energy blast. Pepper wrote a few letters for him to deliver to Dad and Rhodey and Tony let her record a holographic message for Happy. Tony had tried to warn her about the risks but she promised not to tell Happy where she was and Tony of course gave it. It was as if he felt so bad about keeping her all by herself he couldn't deny her anything. She wanted hers to be the first face he saw when he woke up. She also thought if he heard her voice it might help her boyfriend's recovery.

To his credit Tony did spend most of the day with her. Together they battled in fighting games and laughed at old Three Stooges shorts. She'd missed this; simple human contact. Even if she could phone or text and chat online it wouldn't be the same. There was something about the warmth of a hug, seeing someone smile, get annoyed, or throw popcorn at you that technology had yet to replace. Hanging with Tony was a lot of fun and she was surprised how much she had needed it.

What bothered her was she had trouble remembering Happy's voice or how he made her feel when she was with him. It hadn't even been two weeks since she'd seen him but lately her only company had been Tony. She concentrated, searching into her rusty cognizance and evoking the memory. Happy had a great smile and a laugh that made her want to laugh with him. He was mischievous and loved pranks but was never malicious. She remembered the feel of his big hand on her back, how he gallantly opened doors for her, even if she ended up paying her own way half the time.

His lips against hers; hesitant and respectful at first, then bolder and enthusiastic.

Pepper smiled to herself then felt ashamed she could have forgotten Happy for even a minute. He was hospitalized in a coma just for the sin of knowing her. This whole situation smacked of a jilted ex, bitter over his girlfriend's new relationship.

Even with all the distractions Tony provided she found herself with way too much free time.

As much as she'd like to believe Tony's story about secrecy being necessary to keep her safe she couldn't. And alone? What if she got hurt? She'd die before anyone could help her.

On the surface Tony's story about keeping her somewhere isolated for her own good made sense. Her natural curiosity would not let her leave it at that. She had to look deeper, examine everything he said and did for the truth behind his words and actions. Something didn't make sense but she couldn't tell what it was just yet.

Pepper blew out a puff of air, hearing her father's voice.

When investigating you can't let your emotions blind you, no matter what the crime was or what you think of the perpetrator. He had told her once when she asked how he could deal with murderers and crime lords without getting mad or losing one's professionalism.

Gut instinct is fine. Once or twice it's saved my life but you must be objective. Be logical and analytical when examining the facts of the case.

She remembered the size of the pantry and how well-stocked it was for an emergency base that was only supposed to be used for a few days. There was enough food in there to last through a siege. Someone had planned this place to be used long-term. A year, perhaps two.

Why would Gene attack now? He was more obsessed with finding all of the Makluan rings, even more than Tony. It would be pointless for him to take time out of his busy schedule to return to New York and attack someone on a date. It seemed pretty petty and counterproductive. He had to know Iron Man would be on the lookout for him, to say nothing of SHIELD and the Maggia.

Ir the Mandarin returned to New York it would be as a conqueror with all ten rings and an army to support him. All would tremble before his might, blah blah bliddy blah. The incident at the drive-in seemed beneath him.

And what the hell was up with Tony keeping all this a secret from Rhodey? The two boys were raised together, practically brothers. Tony told Rhodey everything, he couldn't lie or fool him. The idea of Tony withholding information from his best friend was laughable. She'd bet Tony still hadn't told Rhodey she was safe. Weird. The conversation she and Tony had when he first brought her here rose unbidden from her mind.

If you can fool your friends you can always fool your enemies. He had told her.

If you can fool your friends.

Fool your friends.

No.

Suddenly she felt a sudden overwhelming need to see what Tony kept in that locked room, "guy stuff" or not.

There was a large PIN pad device near the door. She'd tried several combinations, every numerical and alphabetic code she could conceive of. Being Tony his had to be the most complex encryption available. After several days and some sore fingers, she was about to give up.

Then she remembered an important piece of information that had previously eluded her.

Tony Stark was a teenaged nerd. When he wasn't playing with exosuits he was playing video games.

With a private, indulgent smile Pepper punched in the Konami Code. For all his intelligence Tony was a simple creature.

The door whooshed open with a classic science fiction sound effect. Still grinning at her friend's total immersion into geekdom she flicked on the lights.

Wow.

This was what a teenaged billionaire's bedroom should look like.

The plush beige carpet pampered her bare feet and the walls were a pleasing combination of burgundy wallpaper and wood paneling. The room was dominated by a huge four poster canopy bed complete with hunter green privacy curtains. She couldn't help herself. She had always wanted a four poster canopy bed. Pepper parted the heavy curtains and stretched out on the gold and navy duvet. It was brocaded silk and she left it reluctantly to explore the walk-in closet and master bath. The jacuzzi was deep enough to wash a horse in and the glass shower could easily hold two.

All-in-all it was everything an adolescent boy thought a bachelor pad looked like. That, or a room at the Playboy Mansion.

She could understand why Tony would want a place to sleep here. It wouldn't do for Iron Man to crash while sleeping in the armor. It was probably programmed to return "home" but accidents happened all the time and then Tony's secret would be out. Maybe he planned this place not as a secondary armory but as a weekend getaway spot. Whitney would love the seclusion, even if she wondered about the odd location.

Tony, you naughty boy.

She was so busy giggling of her friend's imagined wickedness she nearly missed the recessed door in the wall.

Pepper turned the handle, expecting this to be where Tony kept his porn. It wasn't anything shameful. It was pretty natural, practically expected. Maybe she'd borrow some to show Happy.

She wished it had been pornography waiting for her in that deceptively innocent room. It reminded her of her suspicions towards Tony.

Photos of Pepper covered all four walls. Some dated back to missing front teeth and cartoon kitten t-shirts. Others were more recent candid shots and one or two were from a glamour girl photo shoot she'd done when she was fourteen as a joke.

Most disturbing of all were grainy black and white stills over her sleeping; lips slightly parted, her head pillowed on her arms. These weren't taken at school or old pictures given as gifts. They could have only been taken by someone with access to a spy camera. Someone with the technical know-how to install one and had access to her home under the pretext of helping her.

No. No no no no no no no. Please, no.

Tony had a crush on...Tony was obsessed with her and was using this attack by Gene to take her from Happy. All under the pretense of "protection."

Pepper backpedaled out of the room, nearly tripping as she did so. When she grabbed the door frame for support she accidentally hit a hidden trigger and a wall slid open, revealing another secret room behind the secret room.

This room looked identical to a security room in any mall in America. There were monitors displaying camera feeds from every room in the base but her bathroom. That bastard! The last screen showed what she assumed were her vital statistics; heartbeat, brain activity, etc. If she was reading the machine right her blood pressure was elevated, indicating she was agitated. Ew, did he put a chip in her while she was sleeping? By the master control she also found the letters she'd written to her dad and the holographic recording she'd made for Happy. Tony never had any intention of delivering them.

Oh, agitation does not even begin to describe how I feel right now. Tony, you bastard.

Her skin felt cold and she trembled all over as she straightened anything she may have touched. Pepper tried to wipe away her fingerprints with the hem of her shirt but knew Tony would see she'd been in his room.

She closed the door behind her and curled up on the couch. Her stomach was lead-heavy with dread and she choked down the acrid taste in her mouth that usually preceded vomiting.

She had no way of contacting anyone who could help her. Rhodey didn't know where she was and Pepper finally realized Tony had never even gotten in touch with SHIELD concerning her abduction. Because he had been the one who engineered it.

Pepper felt the world shrink to nothing and sink beneath her in terror. She hadn't felt this afraid when kidnapped or chased by Fin Fang Foom. This was the fear prey felt when it knew its life was over and the predator was about to tear its throat out. The only difference was the one who hunted her came in the guise as a friend; lowered her defenses until she trustingly showed him where to strike so she'd die that much faster.

That was not going to happen. She'd had enough of being passive and letting someone else dictate her life. Tony would never let her go voluntarily and if she somehow managed to escape she'd freeze to death. Maybe she could steal the armor by luring him into spending the night, claiming she was scared to be by herself. He'd buy that because he wanted to be alone with her. She'd take it while he was sleeping and fly to the nearest town. Then a quick call to Rhodey would have War Machine flying out too take Tony somewhere the guys in white coats could deal with his fixation.

A good plan, well-reasoned and thought out. Too bad the whole thing flew out of her head when she saw him.

"Honey, I'm home! Did you miss me? Listen, I brought some more fruits and veggies and got a few sweets you like. I couldn't find that brand of Turkish Delight you usually get but that melon bread-"

"You bastard!"

Pepper could barely wait until Tony was out of the armor before she gave him a knuckle-bruising punch to the face.

Plan A had been awesome but Plan B would be more fun. She'd choke him unconscious then take his suit.

"I trusted you! We're supposed to be friends and you do this to me? Why? You had months if you wanted to be with me and you never said anything to me! Need I remind you that you were dating Whitney? Then once I'm dating Happy all of a sudden you decide you you're interested? It's too late! You can uninstall your little cameras and stop following me on dates! Why did you do all this? You lied to me. You lied to Rhodey! How could you lie to your best friend?"

Tony gasped but it wasn't for lack of air. She wasn't strong enough to hurt him physically. All right. He was in love with her and it bothered him she'd chosen Happy. As she so blind to the danger she couldn't see Gene wanted her as either a plaything or a corpse?

"Pepper, have you been paying attention to anything I've been telling you?" Incredulous he easily threw her off him and stood up. She scrambled out of his reach until she could rise.

"Why do you think I'm doing all this? To protect you! As much as you'd like to believe that inside Gene's just a scared kid who needs a hug and a cookie he's dangerous. He wants to use the rings to conquer the world and he'll crush anyone who opposes him without a thought."

Pepper's clay brown eyes widened as her friend morphed into a frothing lunatic but he was too immersed in his own twisted logic to stop now.

"He took my father from me. I couldn't save him. Gene ruined my heart. Permanently. I'm not going to let Gene Khan hurt my family again. And if I have to lock up you, Rhodey, Roberta, even Whitney in here to keep you safe from him, I will! I'll find him. I'll find him and make him pay for my father, hurting Rhodey, and for every time he's ever made you cry over him!"

He stopped when he saw he was scaring her and forced himself to be calm.

"Pepper, Gene want to hurt you. Maybe even hurt me through you. Don't tell me how arrogant that sounds, I know. The fact that he attacked you and Pepper proves it. He's been after you for months and you never told me." He had the gall to look wounded. He put her in a very pretty cage and left her to fend for herself and his feelings were hurt when he had the nerve to object.

Wait, what?

"Tony..." she began cautiously, "unless you're keeping something else from me, you're the one who told

me Gene was out to get me and that was less than a month ago."

After what he'd seen on her phone she was still lying to him. Okay, he'd lied. He kept her isolated for her own safety. Maybe he should have taken her to SHIELD but he couldn't trust Fury to care for Pepper's safety like Iron Man did.

Judging by the redhead's expression his beloved needed proof. Time to bring out the physical evidence.

"Pepper, you don't have to hide it anymore." Tony put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a familiar flat metallic object.

"You took my phone?" Pepper was too surprised to do more than gape and reach up for it.

Tony easily held it out of her reach and put a hand on her shoulder to quell her. She tried not to shudder at the contact but he noticed and his eyes narrowed at her obvious revulsion. With his other hand he punched some buttons and displayed her texting history, holding it out for her to see.

"There. I saw how embarrassed you were when you received a text from him in the hall at school. There's no need to hide anything any more. Not from me. You can trust me."

Pepper looked from her phone to his face and was flabbergasted even as she blushed.

"Um, Tony? Have you looked at those?" She bit her lip and looked away. "That's an app that allows you to download images from 'Sissy Guys on Guys'.com." It's an erotic website and I had a month's free subscription and they've been after me to renew ever since. I haven't heard from Gene since Peru. I doubt his old phone is even in service. He'd have to know we'd try to track it. This is all an elaborate fantasy you've built up in your mind to fuel your obsession-"

She broke off and became very, very still. Her mind made the necessary connections and she felt foolish for not comprehending sooner. The lies to her and no doubt Rhodey, keeping her far from anywhere. An image shrine and hidden cameras. A locked bedroom appointed like a honeymoon suite.

"Tony," Pepper asked cautiously as if to a petulant child or a vicious, wild animal, "tell me. Tell me you haven't been using the Madame Masque technology to pretend to be Gene."

When he didn't answer immediately she dared to take a step closer to him. "Tony. Tell me. Just look me in the eyes right now and tell me you had nothing to do with that attack on me and Happy. That you're not the reason he's in the hospital. Tell me that."

She was proud how calm and mature her voice sounded because inside she was quaking. She hope she could reach the kitchenette and grab a weapon before he could catch her.

Tony dropped to his knees. He hadn't heard another word after Pepper asked if he'd been masquerading as the Mandarin.

That wasn't him. That couldn't be him. Iron Man was a hero. He saved lives. He was loyal to his best friends and confided his secrets to them. He would save his father's company and those he loved, even from themselves.

The Mandarin was a villain. Destructive. Treacherous. Dangerous.

Iron Man would never attack a friend out of jealous anger and leave him for dead. He would never kidnap someone. That was what villains did.

Iron Man didn't always defeat his enemies. Villains got what they wanted and got away with it.

But that's what he'd done. He'd deluded himself into thinking he was Gene so he could take what was his. With her simple words Pepper had ripped away the barrier he kept between his desires and his rationalizations.

Tony found his feet again and smiled at Pepper. It was kind and loving and somehow more terrifying than if he'd pulled a gun.

He put his arms around her unprotesting form and held her close while he smelled her peach shampoo. He'd gone to three different stores to find just the right one.

"You're so smart, Pepper. I knew you could figure out the door code. You saw how devoted I am to you." He chuckled and it was chilling. "Well, you and Konami. One day, you could have been a great SHIELD agent." Pepper winced and felt a pinch. She looked down and saw a hypodermic needle plunging into her arm. She'd never even seen it in his hand. Had drugging her always been part of his plan?

Tony continued to smile that hatefully sweet smile as she felt her limbs grow heavy and her vision slowly went dark. That stuff, whatever it was, worked fast.

"But why did you have to figure it all out before I did? Why couldn't you have left me in my delusions just a little while longer?"