I looked out the window to see Pepper's car rolling into the driveway.

"She's home!" I called. I watched her pause in front of the giant stuffed rabbit in the driveway, shake her head and walk in. In a few minutes I heard her voice.

"Sorry I'm late again, I was-what the? What is that? You're wearing this in the house now? What is that, like the Mark 15?"

"Uh, yeah, something like that," came Tony's voice from inside the suit. He got up and went to her. "Everyone needs a hobby."

"Oh, and you have to wear your hobby in the living room?"

"Just breaking it in. You know it's always a little pinchy in the gooey bag at first so..." I heard her laugh and decided I'd had enough.

I trotted outside and greeted her from my bedroom door just as they started talking about the stuffed rabbit.

"Hi Pep!" I said, bouncing up and down. "How was your day? Mine was good!"

"Iz!" she laughed. "My day was all right, calm down."

"Great! Why don't you let Tony get that thing off and go to your room and I'll get you some hot chocolate?" I said, on the verge of desperation.

"Hold it, sweetie!" laughed Pepper. She turned to Tony. "So why don't you lift up that face mask and give me a kiss?"

"No can do. You just wanna kiss it on the facial slit?" responded Tony. Oh boy. He was really toeing the line now.

"Well, why don't I run down to the garage and see if I can't find a crowbar to jimmy that thing open?"

"There's been a radiation leak," Tony and I blurted out at the same time, but Pepper brushed past us.

"I'll take my chances!"

The suit hobbled after her, and I flattened myself against the wall. Now she'd find out that Tony was never in the living room at all and it was just the suit she'd tried to kiss. Well, I'd tried to cover for Tony. Why did I do these things for him?

I waited for her to start yelling, but she never did. Finally, after a couple of minutes, I tiptoed down the stairs into the living room and stopped at the top of the stairs leading down into the garage, with my back to the wall as I tried to listen in on them.

"...you experience things, and then they're over and you still can't explain them. Gods, aliens, other dimensions-I'm just a man in a can."

What? This was new. This was something Tony had never told me. I suddenly felt sad and humbled. Was it because I never bothered to ask?

"But threat is imminent, and I have to protect the one thing I can't live without. That's you-and Iz, up there."

Did he just say that about me? Was I really that vulnerable to him? I didn't know what to think, especially after he'd all but suggested I take up the mantle as Iron Girl. I slid to the floor and put my chin on my knees.

I heard Pepper's voice. "I'm going to take a shower. And you're going to join me."

"Better," said Tony.

That was my cue to flee-so I did. Neither of them suspected that I'd listened in.

Guilt washed over me as I shut the door to my room. I knew I should have done something earlier.I should have asked, I berated myself.

But Tony should have told us.

That night in my room I heard the door to Tony and Pepper's open, then shut, followed by muffled footsteps going downstairs. Curious, I got out of bed and went into the living room.

"Pepper?" I said, pausing at the top of the staircase. On the couch below, Pepper Potts looked up at me, red hair disheveled.

"Iz, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" That was Pepper. Always putting us Starks before her own wonderful self.

"Yes—sort of," I said. "I dunno, my ears are just sort of attuned to noises like that." I descended the staircase. "I used to hear them a lot when my parents would argue in the middle of the night, and my mom would go sleep in the den. Is something wrong?"

Pepper shook her head. "Your uncle had a nightmare. It triggered the Mark 42. Damn thing almost attacked me…"Her voice shook, frustrated. "I had to get out of there for a minute."

I put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "It was a subconscious command. Neurotransmission technology is usually a little wonky when it's first put into practice…" This made Pepper laugh. "I'm sure Tony will fix it. He's just…totally paranoid."

"Well, for a genius, he's just not getting the point that we can take care of ourselves," she said. "I don't want him to worry. It's eating him." She settled on the couch.

I shrugged. "Well, I don't know what to do to stop him from worrying."

Pepper smiled sadly. "He's the only one who can fix this now."

I sank onto a footrest wearily. "I wish I could help."

"So do I."

Suddenly a shrill noise coursed through the air, a jarring alarm sound. Pepper and I stood at once as Tony emerged from their room.

"Ladies, I'm sorry," he said breathlessly, "But there's been an emergency."