Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, their lives, the actors, their lives, the movies, the comics. Zilch.

Author's Note: *Rubs palms together excitedly* I am having so much fun writing this story! I hope you're all enjoying it so far. Thank you for the favorites and the follows! I will not let you guys down! As I said before, I have a few chapters completed so expect more updates. I will be posting them from my iPhone though, so please do not hesitate to message me if I have too many mistakes or typos.

Pepper sat in her office chair and ignored the stack of papers that had begun to pile up. She chose, instead, to gaze out the window of the Stark Industries tower. The city below her looked busy with cars and people on the streets. A deep sigh escaped her as she wondered whether those people knew how much her Iron Man constantly laid on line for them. Wondered if what she felt right then, and any other time he was on a mission, was what military families felt.

The worry gnawed at her heart and an anxiety in the form of butterflies bothered her stomach. She tried to relax by breathing deeply. Pepper knew that Tony was capable of fending off the toughest of criminal minds, but it never seized to frighten her that so many unstable people were out plotting sophisticated schemes that could potentially break him.

A mental image of Tony hurt somewhere came into her mind, but she disregarded it.

"Hey boss lady." Happy walked through her double doors to stand a few feet from her desk.

"I'm sorry, Happy. How long have you been standing there?" Pepper flashed him a small apologetic smile.

"Not long. Are you ready to go home or do you need more time?" He looked to the window and pointed to the now dark skies. Everyone knew that Pepper was always one of the last to leave.

"No, no, I'm ready." She sighed as she caught sight of the mountain of paperwork that sat on her desk top. She shook her head. "I'm ready when you are, Happy."

"Uh oh." Happy smiled and shook his head.

"Uh oh what? You can't start a conversation with uh oh…not around here, Happy." Pepper's eyes widened as she waited for him to continue.

"Tony must have finally rubbed off on you." Pepper looked at him questioningly. Happy looked over to the same stack of papers and pointed. "Ignoring your duties. Procrastinating. Justifying it with a casual I'll take care of it tomorrow." He finished with a chuckle.

Pepper could not help the grin that escaped her lips. "This doesn't leave this room. Never tell Tony. Ever. Got it, Happy?"

"Hmm. Even starting to sound like him."

"Stop it." By then Pepper was laughing.

"You got it, Boss."

She grabbed her bag and stuffed as much work as she could into it. Her face suddenly turned serious and Happy noticed it right away. "Pepper…what's wrong?" He decided to sit across from her when he heard her sigh.

"Nothing, Happy. I'm just a bit…anxious that's all." She continued to pack her things for the night.

"Right. About?"

"Tony."

Happy nodded. "Why did I not expect to hear anything but his name?" He smiled at her as she looked up.

"I know. I just have a weird feeling about all of this. His latest assignment, I mean. He's so engrossed in it and with good reason. But I can't help but feel that something is going to go wrong. I mean I hope it doesn't, but I just don't like it at all."

"Tony can handle it. He will. You know him, he won't stop until he solves every last equation and finds every last variable."

"Yes. I know. That's what worries me. He thinks he's Superman."

"But he's not…he's Iron Man." Happy took a shot at a joke and succeeded in making Pepper giggle.

"Well, if Superman had his weakness in Kryptonite…I guess I'm just afraid to find out what Tony's is."

Happy stood and straightened out his suit. "Well that's easy, Pepper. It's you." Pepper's eyes focused on his face and she became serious. "But don't worry. Tony has officially requested that I become your body guard, and I would be honored. So you're safe with me." He grinned.

"That's comforting." She rolled her eyes playfully and stood to walk out with him.

"I'm hurt." He put his hand over his heart as he followed her.

"Oh, Happy. Don't be. There are…other things you are great at." She patted his shoulder.

Happy looked at her hand as it fell from his back and he gasped. "You just patted me. And you insulted me and covered it with a semi-honest praise." Pepper smiled. He shook his head and pointed at her. "You really need to stop doing that. You're scaring me."

Pepper laughed. "Aw come on, Happy. It's not that bad."

"No…it is." His eyebrows shot to his forehead as he nodded. "You have to stop hanging around him."

"I can't promise you that…sorry."

"Just don't grow a goatee."

Tony walked to the platform and whistled along to the Black Sabbath song that played through the speakers in his workshop. "Alright, J. Let's do this."

"The Mark VII is prepped and ready, sir."

The floor opened up beneath his feet as the mechanical arms assembled the suit over his body. Piece by piece he waited for them to finish. Anticipation welled in the pit of his stomach. Tony knew he would be met with hostility, and he was prepared for that, but he just couldn't figure out what or who he was dealing with. That small detail made him anxious.

As the face mask came down, he stepped off the platform and turned to face the opening of the shop. With one last check at his heads up display, he jetted off toward Truezdail.

Truezdail Inc.

The man towered over his subordinates with angry eyes. "The only reason that I am keeping you alive is because you two are the best that we have. How the intruder got past you is beyond my comprehension." Kahn turned and walked away to stand by the security screen. His hands were clasped tightly behind his back. He glared at the screen and turned back to his workers. "Any of you venture a guess as to how that could have happened?"

Arash looked to his companion with fright before feigning courage and looked back to his superior. "W-we are currently trying to decipher that, sir."

Kahn nodded and walked to stand before Arash. "I better get some answers soon, my friend. I didn't travel out here to look after you two. I want to get this little issue resolved. Quickly."

The men shared determined yet frightened nods with him.

Tony scanned the fleeting ground beneath him as he flew along the Pacific coastline. His navigational system tracked his distance from the lab. "J, what do you think…guns blazing or peaceful interrogation?" He smiled as he asked his AI.

"Do I have a choice, sir?" Tony grinned at his AI's response. "I'm not particularly a supporter of guns blazing, sir. This usually involves you sustaining a substantial amount of damage and me conducting hours of repairs to the armor's exterior." Tony rolled his eyes at the obvious remark.

"You're so dull sometimes, Jarvis."

"Thank you, sir."

"That wasn't a compliment." His target flashed brighter on his heads up display as Tony shook his head and chuckled. "Alright, J…dull and boring it is. But know that I am not doing this because you suggested it. Pepper would kill me if I got myself killed."

"I'm not sure how that would work, sir. But I can assure you that I am not upset. You did not program me to feel jealousy."

The light-hearted conversation ended when he focused on his target and looked for a discrete place to land. The facility spanned a few acres and was not one whole building as he had expected. White concrete buildings lay scattered amongst bigger warehouses. He hovered over the facility and kept an eye on any activity and security cameras.

"Jarvis, give me a count of all cameras and personnel outside of buildings."

"There are thirteen buildings in all. I detect thirty-nine cameras surveying the facility, and currently there are 12 people outside of buildings, four of which are guards at the front and back gates, sir."

Tony nodded. The thrusters on his boots dropped power and he slowly descended to a spot behind one of the warehouses near the back of the facility. As he landed softly he stayed in the shadows and out of view from the cameras. All the while he kept an observant eye on his surroundings. Once he confirmed that nobody would see him right away, because they were bound to do so at some point, he crossed the expanse of the paved walkways.

A lack of alarms ringing made him feel more at ease. No one had spotted him yet, but that didn't mean he wasn't cautious. His feet produced a metallic thump every time he walked, and because of that he expected someone to tackle him when he rounded every corner. Nobody did. Tony let out a steady breath.

"Sir, it seems you are nearing the central building of the facility."

"My guess is this is the principal's office." Tony joked when he walked up to the entrance. As he reached for the handle, he saw a shadow moving in the light from beneath the door. Naturally and without a second thought, he turned his thrusters on to hover around the corner from the double doors. A man dressed in black combat gear exited the compound and walked away as he smoked a cigarette. His free hand rested on the trigger to his assault rifle. "Too heavily guarded to be just a science laboratory isn't it?" Tony commented to himself and dropped to the ground with a louder thud than he had planned.

"Hey! Stop where you're at!" A man called out from behind him near the back of the building.

A lot of thoughts rushed through Tony's mind, but none stood out more than the 'oh shit' he was currently reciting in his head. "Alright." He replied under his breath as he turned to face his company. "Guns blazing it'll be then. Can't blame a guy for trying." Tony kept his hands at his sides, but slowly powered each palm, ready for an attack.

"What? What did you say?" A nervous guard pointed his riffle at him.

"Hi." Tony stepped forward.

His sudden move distressed the man, so much so that he fired at Tony. The bullets bounced off his chest plate as he continued to walk towards him, palms still at his sides.

When the guard realized that nothing would stop the intruder in an armored suit, he turned his head to look for assistance. "Carl! Sound the alarms!" He turned back to Tony and continued to pull the trigger.

Adrenaline began to course through Tony's body as the chaos of alarms and red lights surrounded him. "Ok. Let's play."

With ready palms and a heavy desire to protect himself, Tony began to blast his repulsors at anything or anyone that came at him. His first assailant flew back through the air and landed in dense bushes that surrounded one of the concrete buildings. Not much time was granted for him to breathe as another guard fired at him from the side. He whipped his head around just in time for a lone bullet to strike his lit eye glass. Tony faced the man and sent him flying into the side of a warehouse with a blast.

"Stop there!" A much taller and much more toned guard ran towards him with his rifle drawn.

Tony couldn't help but let out a frustrated chuckle. Were the guards not yet aware of the fact that they could not stop him? He shook his head and aimed both of this palms at the guard.

A sudden bright flash prevented Tony from taking any further action. It took a while for him to register that he was no longer standing, but flat on his back trying to adjust his vision. Pain tore at various parts of his body, and a familiar feeling of moisture seeping through those areas made him consciously aware that a shrapnel grenade had been thrown at him.

In what seemed like mere seconds, he sat up and looked down to see numerous pieces of metal and glass embedded into his suit. As he began to position himself to stand, a flock of guards tackled him from all around. They were plenty, but still no match for the power and strength that the suit possessed.

"Tony! Tony come in! You need to get out of there." Nick Fury yelled through his earpiece.

Tony grunted as he diverted all power to his boots. "Not now, I'm kind of in the…middle of something!"

"Tony get out of there now!" Fury reiterated his concerned command.

All power was ready and Tony used it to send the group of guards flying back before he took off into the air. He hovered well above the facility to recover. "Alright. Now…what were you saying?" Tony finally caught his breath and asked Fury.

Tony waited for a response, but before he could hear what the man had to say, he found himself being taken back towards the ground in a strong vice grip. The sudden attack and the speed at which they flew through the air didn't give Tony much time for a challenge. He never got the chance to fully look at his aggressor before he felt the pain and his world went dark.

To be continued…

Thank you guys for reading At All Costs! I HAD to get it out of my head in order to concentrate 100% on this story. I will try not to digress, but I'm sure most, if not all of you, understand that when something gets into that brain of ours our fingers itch to type away what's within.