Guest Review Responses

Guest: Nice chapter.i hate sports anyway. – LOL! No juggling for you, then!

Muah: Here is my review, which means I will not be ending up in hospital for six weeks! Another amazing chapter! So glad Pepper got to her senses. – Aren't we all? Pepper's gonna need a lot of senses for what's coming to her or for her… hehehehe.

Guest: Ahh...I actually feel satisfied now... :) – YAY! Here's more satisfaction, I hope.

apps: I don't know why, but somewhere I didn't understood the chapter...anyways what all matters in the end is pepperony is back... yipeeeeeee...thanks a lot...eagerly waiting for major pepperony to come...! – Sorry about that. It was a little all over the place. We're going to start seeing more of what happened behind the scenes throughout the entire series – stuff that we haven't seen before, and I decided to start with Pepper's issue with Whitney. We'll see more of that here and then I'll move on to other flashbacks of what has been happening in the background that has been affecting our favorite ship.

Toni: The desperation in those letters was definitely felt. Bless Rhodey. He joins in May and that's two chapters away! Then we'll get some answers *crosses fingers*. So that's how Whitney kidnapped Pepper. One question answered. But now I've got another; Who sent Pepper that letter? Good to see them together. Tony and Pepper are definitely stronger together than apart. Thank-you! – Who sent that letter, indeed? Was it a good thing or a bad thing that it was sent? What does this mean for Pepperony? These and more questions (instead of answers, lol) to come next! :P

Chapter 4: April

She was not sure how long she had been trapped inside the dark room. She had not even considered that it was in fact a metal box she had been in and not an actual room until just now. Either way, she knew that whoever had taken her had no intention to let her out – perhaps no intention to let her live to tell her tale. For this she had not planned, and after what she could only imagine were days of struggle, she had finally been unable to continue demanding to be freed. She was tired, hungry, scared, cold, and in pain, so when she heard the door to her new prison being opened, and she finally saw the first sign of light in days, she could not help but try to run to it as fast as her tired body could take her.

Her unexpected jolt of adrenaline was short lived, however. Before she was mere feet from the exit, her captor appeared from behind the door and punched her square in the face. The redhead hit the ground with a loud thud, the air expelled from her lungs, and her hands flew to her face to try to ease the excruciating ache the blood vessels bursting had left behind. The tears appeared even before she had hit the cold floor, and when she finally regained enough composure to look up, her eyes widened in surprise at what she saw.

"Whi-Whitney?"

"Hi, Pepper," the blonde smirked. "I'm surprised that you lived through your first sentence."

Pepper gulped.

"First sentence? What… what are you talking about? Why did you take me? How… how are you even here?"

"Still asking too many questions at once, I see," Whitney shook her head in fake disappointment. "And here I was hoping you'd shut your mouth, for once."

"Whitney, what gives? What's going on? Tell me, right now!"

The blonde's initial response was to walk towards Pepper, sit on her stomach so that she could not move, and then pressed her left hand around the redhead's neck. Pepper tried fighting her off, but after the three-day ordeal she had lived through, there was no way her body would be able to do what her mind told her she needed to do to survive.

"Can't breathe, can you?" Whitney whispered in Pepper's right ear.

Pepper's choking sounds were the girl's only response, which only made Whitney's eerie smile that much more menacing to the redhead.

"Do you feel like your life is ending? Do you feel a burn in your lungs, a void in your chest? Good. That's how I felt when Tony stole my father from me. That's how I felt when he chose you over me!"

"Whit… ney… he… I…"

"Shut up!" Whitney spat and then got up from Pepper's body, but only to kick her hard in Pepper's left side with her thick boot. Pepper felt the little air she had just gathered leave her again, which only prompted the blonde to continue her angry speech when she realized that the ginger was not going to be able to say anything at all. For once, Pepper had to be the quiet one, and Whitney would be the one to talk nonstop.

"I know that you two are together now! I know that he asked you to be with him! I KNOW that he loves you!"

Pepper moaned in pain as she tried to respond to Whitney, but the pain of a broken rib made it difficult – practically impossible – for the redhead to say anything to save her life from the deranged blonde. All Pepper could do was inhale deeply in the hopes that the pain would just go away on its own, just about now.

"Don't deny it, Groupie. I saw you two together. I saw him pressing your hand to his chest when you hugged him from behind! I saw it when he kissed you… and I saw you kissing him back!"

Pepper pressed her eyes together and held back a whimper. She had the slight suspicion that if Whitney heard her make any sound, that it would only be taken as a sign of defiance or denial of her words. She was not going to deny what she felt for Tony. She was not going to deny what they had done, and even if it got her killed, she would tell Whitney what she really thought of her when she became able to put together coherent words. Then again, she could not think about any of that at the moment, because what worried the redhead the most right now was the fact that Whitney knew of something that had happened between her and Tony, while alone in the Makluan lab.

"And to think he was ready to sue me to be with you," Whitney cackled. "But I still took you from him, in the end. You still left him to come with me."

Pepper opened one eye to stare up at Whitney while the blonde took out her mask and placed it on her face to show the redhead what she knew that Pepper already suspected was true. It only took a second, but when instead of Whitney or Madame Masque, Pepper saw Loretta Potts standing before her, Pepper knew that she had bitten off more than she could chew.

"I hope you like long retreats, Pet. You and I are going to have some girl time… alone."

xxxXXXxxx

It was not his bed he woke up in and, for an instant, he forgot where he was. He had been sleeping alone for months now, first on a couch, and then in his bed at the Stark Solutions penthouse. When his eyes saw the still unacquainted setting around him and his hand felt the cold, empty side of the bed, the genius panicked for a moment, fearing that the last three days had been a dream.

But then he heard and smelled breakfast being made, and he knew it was not a dream at all.

He rolled himself off the bed and walked straight to the bathroom to wash up. He almost tripped on one of the travel bags that Jarvis had packed for him a few days ago, but he was able to jump over it at the last second. They were supposed to leave the penthouse for only a couple of days, but his butler and old friend had insisted that the couple needed more than just a few days alone. In the end, Tony had ended up with enough packed belongings to last him two weeks. He did not plan on staying at their new place – the Rhodes' former home – for a long time, but Tony did have to agree with Jarvis that it was good to have a change of scenery once in a while.

Unbeknownst to the redhead and the inventor, everyone else was currently at Stark Solutions, cleaning up the penthouse, giving it a spruce up, and removing all reminders of the death of baby James. It was not as if they did not miss the little boy, or as if they were still not mourning him, but if they wanted Tony and Pepper to move on with their lives, they had to complete the sad task of renovating the nursery for them, while they were away. It was clear to their friends and family that the couple would not be able to do this task themselves, so that left them to complete the dreaded job.

After using the facilities, washing his face, and brushing his teeth, Tony practically bounced off the walls as he headed to the kitchen. It had been a while since Pepper had made breakfast for them, mostly due to the fact that she had been busy with work and school. But now that she had graduated and that they were still taking a break from CEO business – and the fact that they were now back together – she had been cooking for them every day since Jarvis had kicked them both out of the penthouse; the day after she had found Tony crumbling down in James' room.

Tony was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, as he was not truly certain that this was actually happening to him. Just a week ago, he had been sure that his life as he had known it was over. Yet now, here he was: falling asleep next to his wife at night, waking up to the smell of homemade food, sharing every meal with her, and spending the entire day alone together, doing whatever they felt like doing at the time.

Although, he could not say that everything was back to normal. There was obviously still some getting used to being as close as they had once been. He still hesitated to touch her, even kiss her. In fact, they had not actually really kissed at all since she had come back. They had held hands, hugged, and there had been kisses placed on cheeks, heads, foreheads, and hands, but neither of them had initiated more intimate physical contact that had once been so common between them.

They were still to talk about how they wanted to fix their unsolved issues, and there was still the pending conversation of what to do about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s contract with Tony's life. Many issues were still unresolved and unspoken of. For now, however, the main concern Tony had was making sure that he and Pepper reconnected in all the ways they had been united before. There would always be time to discuss other matters, and they both knew that they could tackle anything together as long as everything was alright between them. Both of them had every intention to do just that: be who they were before tragedy had struck.

He found her right where he knew she would be, and he smiled so wide that his cheeks hurt. The scene was familiar to him – sentimental, actually – sans the fact that this Pepper had shorter hair again, was not listening to music via an MP3 player but through the sound system she had installed in the home, was not making pancakes but French toast, and was not dressed in work attire but was wearing a practically see-through pink nighty that barely covered the parts of her body that Tony was currently trying to admire from afar.

And, above all the subtle differences, was the fact that the last time he had caught the redhead dancing while cooking, she had not been his wife – not even his girlfriend, at that; she had been just the girl he shared an apartment with. The friend who had lost her memory and had recently regained it only to have it scrambled again by Gene Khan under request of Tony Stark.

How much the times had changed!

Not wanting to push the boundaries of physical interaction they had unofficially set when they had split up, but also being unable to resist himself, Tony walked over to the ginger, placed his hands on her hips and set his chin on her right shoulder. Pepper was startled for a second, but when she remembered that it was just her boy genius who was standing behind her, she closed her eyes and pressed her back against his chest.

"Good morning, Tony," she began. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," he said and then tested the waters by kissing the junction of her neck and shoulder. "You?"

"I did," she replied. She then exhaled slowly and through her mouth when she felt Tony tighten his hands on her and leave a trail of soft kisses up her neck. She opened her eyes again when he took a step back to let her tend to the food, made himself useful by setting the table for them, and then took a moment to lower the volume of the music playing in the background.

"What's the plan for today, Pep?"

Pepper smiled at hearing him call her by her nickname. It had been a while since she had last heard it from him in a tender manner, and she had no idea how she had survived without him and his voice for so long.

She made sure that the toast was ready for serving, and as Tony finished setting up the plates and poured coffee for the both of them, she took the still steaming food to the dining table.

"I have a few things in mind," Pepper said. "It depends on what you wanna do."

"Well, I'd like to talk about a few things with you, but other than that, I'm up for whatever you want."

"Alright," she said after she finished placing the toast on both plates, and then sat down across the table to face the inventor. "In that case, I'd like for us to revisit Happy's position at the company. He's graduating in two weeks, and I'd like for him to finally work for us full-time."

"Other than being Iron Man from now on, you mean?" Tony asked while he cut up a piece of his toast.

"Yup. Other than that."

Tony nodded along and looked pensive for a moment as he chewed his food. Once he swallowed it down, he washed the remnants with coffee and gave Pepper a curious look.

"What position did you have in mind for him?"

"I was thinking something that uses what he's learned."

"A physical trainer?"

"Yes. No. Maybe. I was thinking that maybe we can open a gym at the company for the employees to use during their breaks, or before or after work. We can maybe even install showers and lockers and such. Other companies have this option for their employees. I don't see why we can't do the same."

"Mmhhh," Tony took another bite of his food. "That's actually a good idea. I kinda like that. So, what would Happy do then? Be one of the trainers? Maybe the head manager of the gym?"

Pepper shrugged and played with her fork.

"Perhaps. I haven't told him anything, yet. I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"I think we can do it. In fact," Tony began before he bit his bacon. "Why don't we go all out on the employee perks and add a day-care facility for the employees' kids?"

The moment the words left his mouth, both he and Pepper flinched and looked down at their plates. The silence that followed his statement was cold and bitter, but his hand on hers from across the table made her able to swallow the brief reminder that their son would not be among those babies and young children that would be watched over at the building.

Her eyes traveled from their now joined hands to his face. With a single look between them, he apologized for bringing up the topic, and she silently told him that she knew it had not been his intention. He further stressed his apology by kissing her hand, and she gave him a smile to prove to him that he had nothing to worry about. Once he let go of her hand, she used it to lift the orange juice carton he had brought to the table with him, and she quickly served them both a glass for each.

"Anyway," he cleared his throat. "How about we meet with the Employee Engagement committee next week and we let them know about the idea?"

"Sounds good," Pepper replied. "It's been a while since we've met with any of them. But this also means that we have to start attending board meetings again."

"Ugh," Tony rolled his eyes. "I don't know about you, babe, but I haven't missed those at all. Nothing good ever happens in those meetings."

Pepper chuckled and shook her head to agree with him, but her laughter did not last long when the current conversation reminded her of what she wanted to talk to Tony about. She knew that Tony was absolutely correct in his statement: nothing good ever came out of board meetings, especially when she was around. And nothing good ever came out of talking about them either; such as would be the case right now.

She took a sip of her juice before her eyes wandered behind the inventor, her gaze showing she was suddenly a million miles away. Tony gave her a moment to put together whatever thoughts she was clearly trying to reconcile within her, and when she sighed loudly and looked back at him once more, Tony put down his fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and rested his forearms on the table.

Pepper took in a deep breath she slowly exhaled; she wondered when the hell they had become so proficient at reading each other's mind. She knew that they had grown closer over the years, and that sometimes a simple glance was all that was needed between them to convey an entire idea or thought, but she had honestly believed that the time they had spent apart had tarnished that connection. Then again, perhaps it was due to that separation that they were now more aware of the others' words and non-verbal cues. Or perhaps, it had always been there, but she had not stopped to realize how deep the connection truly was. Either way, she could tell that Tony knew something important was about to be said, and he was ready to give her his undivided attention at the moment.

"Tony, I… I hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. I… I know you didn't know about the paper you signed for them. I know you didn't know what Extremis did to him."

Suddenly, the delicious toast that she had made for him was no longer as appetizing as it had been a second before.

"And I don't know why they did it," she continued. "At least I'm not sure yet. But I intend to find out. I think… I think Fury is hiding something from us. I don't know what it is, but I think it's something big. I think S.H.I.E.L.D. is on to us. I… I think… I think that…"

Pepper cleared her throat and looked down at her plate, unsure of whether to continue the conversation or not, as it was clearly upsetting them both. This time alone with him was supposed to be for emotional uplifting and relief, not for recon and theorizing. Yet, the information she had been gathering for weeks was nagging at her to be shared with the one person in the world that would understand her suspicions and doubts.

"You think, what, Pep?"

She stared into his eyes again, and after biting her lower lip to fight back tears of anger, she spoke once more.

"I think… I think S.H.I.E.L.D. killed him, Tony. I think S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to get rid of us."

Tony opened his mouth to retort, but he immediately closed it back up before he said something he would later regret. Pepper deserved to be heard. She deserved for her theory to be thoroughly dissected and analyzed before he completely dismissed the possibilities at hand. In the past, whenever Pepper had come up with farfetched ideas, he had almost immediately canned her rather fantasy-like thoughts. But this was not the same Pepper she had been before. This was not the same girl that had once thought she had seen Thor at the mall.

Throughout the years, she had proven herself to be great at piecing together seemingly unconnected information that everyone else, including himself, had overlooked. And when Tony remembered that she had been the only one to realize that something was off with Loretta Potts, and that she had also been the first one to find out what the Maggia had been doing for months, Tony decided it was best to give her an opportunity to elaborate her idea.

"Go on."

"OK," she rubbed her forehead with her right hand, ordering her thoughts. "There's a lot in there. Just… just hear me out, OK?"

"I will. Tell me, Pepper."

"OK. Well… don't you find it interesting that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know that Whitney was gone? I mean, they knew what she could do. They've held the Hulk in there, for fuck's sake. How was it that no one found out she was gone until you told them? Did they never think to check why she wasn't eating the food they brought her?"

Tony frowned momentarily as he too recalled the moment he had confronted Fury about his lack of security procedures, which had enabled the blonde to roam free.

"And I'm telling you she's not here," Iron Man responded. "Not only is she not here, but she has Pepper."

"Pepper? I thought she was with you?"

"She's not. Her mom – or who we all thought was her mom – took her away two weeks ago. Her real mom just showed up at school this morning when she couldn't get ahold of Virgil or Pepper on their phones, and asked me where they both were. The woman has been out of the country for months, and there is only one person I know that can take the shape of other people."

"Maybe that woman is pulling your leg. Once we get to the cell you'll see Miss Stane is still there."

"I hope so," Tony said as they stood outside the containment unit they had come to search for. Fury took a step toward the keypad on the wall and pressed the override code to unlock the cell. The first thing that they saw was the untouched meal by the serving tray compartment by the corner of the room.

"She never eats it," Fury explained as they walked closer to the body resting on the bed attached to the back wall of the cell. "See? She's right here."

"And, she, whoever she is, is dead," Tony said before he retracted his faceplate and walked up to the woman lying on the makeshift bed.

Fury had seemed genuinely shocked to learn that Whitney had escaped, seemingly from right under his nose. Tony doubted that S.H.I.E.L.D. had intentionally let the homicidal girl go free, but it did pose the question: what could have had them so occupied that they had missed all the signs that a psychopath had escaped their custody?

"And then," Pepper continued, "Then they tried calling you to the Helicarrier to deal with the E-zombies. He was so adamant that you were there. At first, I thought it was because he just didn't trust me. But now I'm not sure. And how come he didn't know jack shit about the Maggia? He didn't even help us! He… he just let us go in there to deal with an organized crime group! Isn't that their job?"

"And then when AIM tried to kidnap Dr. Ross," Tony said, suddenly seeing the connected dots that Pepper was pointing him to, "Fury never sent anyone to help. The whole thing was televised! He should've known we couldn't take them all!"

"Right! And then Rhona attacked us… with our own tech! Similar tech we had sold S.H.I.E.L.D. before we cut them off. How would Rhona know about all of this? How was she even able to know what we've been doing–"

"Unless someone told her," Tony finished for her. "She had all these weapons… the drone… and she said…"

"Or what? You're still gonna kill me! You're still gonna kill me because I killed your FAKE brother."

"No! That's not it!" Rhona spat. "You don't know a thing! You don't know why you're about to die!"

"You mean it's not because I broke your toy? Is it because you know I'll always be smarter than you?"

"NO!" the Goth girl screamed at the top of her lungs. "It's not because of that! It's because you have a target sign painted on your back!"

"What?"

"YES! Someone wants you dead, Stark. You have a price on your head," she held her finger against the trigger. "And so does she," she added with a sinister smile. "So does her ginger head."

"The bounty," they both said aloud.

Tony narrowed his eyes, angrily recalling what Rhona had told him about the bounty before he had killed her for it; before Nick Fury had used his actions to lock him up in the Helicarrier to run all kinds of tests on him.

"I-I…" she whined. "I don't know what you're talking about. I-I… I didn't send anything to your apartment. I swear!"

"Stop lying!" Tony spat, increased his hold on her head and made the girl whimper in pain. "Who wants us dead? WHO?"

"I don't know who! I don't!"

"LIAR!" Tony said, closed his faceplate and tightened his grasp on her. "WHO? Who is it?"

"I DON'T KNOW! All I know is that there's money involved! I… I didn't even care all that much about the money… all… all I wanted was revenge!"

"Revenge?" Tony scoffed. "You want to talk about revenge? I'll show you revenge!"

"Stark, stop it!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Please, no," Rhona begged. "Please, please don't kill me."

"Then tell me who put a hit on us!"

"I swear I don't know! I just got the invitation! I don't know who it is!"

"The… the invitation?" Tony was taken aback and, for a second, loosened his clutch on her head. "What invitation?"

"A video… I got a video… It was sent to the institute. The voice… it was distorted… and there was no face… the voice… the voice said that there was a bounty out for your head… and Pepper's… and when the news said she was pregnant, the baby was added to the list… That's all I know. That's ALL I know!"

"Where's the video? Do you still have it?"

"No!" she sobbed. "The instructions said to burn it… so I did…"

Tony's anger returned with that. "Who else is in this group? Who else is out to get me?"

Rhona blinked back a few tears, took in a deep breath and replied. "Everyone… it was sent to everyone."

"Everyone? What do you mean 'everyone'? Who is everyone?"

"Everyone you've ever hurt. Everyone you've ever crossed paths with. And… and you should not even be here. You-you should just let me go. You should be with Pepper because… because the highest bounty is for her head… for her dead, detached head."

"A price for our heads," Tony said. "A bounty that only a powerful person – a powerful group – would be able to pay out. The reason why Nick didn't answer my 911 when Whiplash, Unicorn and Black Knight attacked you. The reason why he hasn't done anything about this bounty! This is why he made me resign from being Iron Man! He wanted me to not be able to defend myself… to protect you!"

"To protect Jimmy," Pepper said. "He wanted to leave Jimmy helpless. Take him out when we least expected it."

Tony growled. His knuckles turned white and his eyes were on fire. Pepper was in no better condition, but Tony's anger steamed from something else that Pepper was yet to consider.

"The crows," Tony snarled. "The ghost-like intruder at the penthouse. It was all a way to kick us out. For us to send Howie to another location so that he would be alone."

"Without us," Pepper said and closed her eyes. "So that he would be without us."

Tony groaned loudly, stood up from the chair, and began pacing the living room. Pepper stood up after him, and although she did not get in his way, she remained close by in case she needed to stop him from getting himself arrested again. Tony closed his eyes and shook his head, and when the redhead noticed that he had begun hyperventilating – his lack of Extremis-induced control clearly affecting him, she approached him and placed her hands on his chest to remind him that she was still around.

"This is why he did all those tests on me," Tony spat. "He wasn't trying to help me! He was trying to find a way to counter Extremis! He wanted to find a weakness, to use it on our son! Fury's probably the reason I had to give up Extremis, too! He's probably the one that made it worse! He's just taking my weapons away… just like… just like…"

"We took his," the ginger finished for Tony and the inventor again groaned in return. "Just like we took his."

"Son of a…" Tony mumbled and closed his eyes. "That fucking, sorry son of a bitch! I can't believe… I can't believe that we… that he… I'm gonna… I'm gonna break his fucking neck!"

"Tony, calm down," Pepper began even though she was as upset as he. She at least had had some time to swallow the news that she was relaying to him. She at least had had the time to let some of her frustration out when she had first started putting together the pieces of information she had gathered so far. Tony, on the other hand, was just now facing the impact that her theories had, and without Extremis in him to help him balance his thoughts and anger, this situation was ten times worse for him than for her.

"Breathe, Tony. Just breathe."

With those words coming from her, Tony was briefly transported back in time when he had thought Pepper dead by the Maggia, after he had seen the video he had been sent at the motel. Her tone and request over the molar implant had been very similar, and even though she had stated the same words now – as she had done so, years ago – to help calm him down, they only reminded him of what the Maggia had done to her. The words of encouragement only reminded him that she would never stop being in danger because of what they had together.

And this thought sprinkled salt on the open wound of his heart.

Her right hand snaked around the back of his neck, and her left hand found his, keeping them both at their side. She then used her right hand to lead him to press his forehead against hers, and she closed her eyes as well. It took Tony a moment to stop hyperventilating. But once he did start breathing normal again, he pressed a kiss to Pepper's nose.

"Pepper," he swallowed hard. "I'm sorry I yelled. I… I just… all of this… it's… it's just too much."

"I know," she said and pulled away slightly from his face to be able to stare at him. "And we don't even know if it's even true, but I don't see any other reason why S.H.I.E.L.D. has done everything to keep tabs on us."

"No, I get it. It makes sense. It just – it makes me angry, Pepper. It makes me want to get Extremis back just so that I can crash the Helicarrier to the ground."

"It's not worth it, Tony. We… we aren't even sure yet. I need more information. I will get the information I need. I just…. I need time."

"I know," he opened his eyes and stared at hers. "And I'll help you."

"No," she shook her head. "You won't."

"Pepper–"

"No, Tony," she said tenderly but firmly. "You've risked your neck for me too many times. Let me do something for you. Let me stick my neck out for you. I owe you that much."

"But–"

"No," she said again. "This time, I protect you."

Tony opened his mouth to complain about her stubbornness, but in the end nothing came out. He shut his mouth once more, stared at Pepper's pleading eyes, and then against the mood of the moment, he gave her a small smile. He knew the situation was precarious. He knew that if S.H.I.E.L.D. was behind everything that had happened to them in the past few years, then Pepper was risking a whole lot by hacking into the database as often as she probably was already doing. Bad-mouthing Fury during a board meeting or during a mission was one thing. Breaking federal laws and international treaties was a whole different ball game; one that was not avoided by simply paying up someone for their faults.

"We can't tell anyone, Pep. No one but us should know this."

"I know," she nodded. "I haven't told anyone. Just you. I wanted to tell someone. And it's only you who I trust completely. I can't put anyone else in danger by knowing this. I mean, I don't want you in danger either, but this is what we signed up for. They either take us both out, or we take them down with us."

"And we will," Tony whispered back to her and held her face between his hands. "We'll take them down with us."

xxxXXXxxx

"Tony…" Pepper coughed. "He's going… to save me…"

The words she had just spoken were supposed to sound threatening, but with her body struggling to process the rotten food and contaminated water that Whitney had been feeding her for days, Pepper knew that her words sounded nothing more than empty to the blonde

At first, she thought that she only had to hold up her tough charade for a couple of days, tops, but Tony was yet to find out about her message – or so she hoped. The only other possibility for why Tony was yet to show his face to save her was because he had no intention of doing so. Maybe he had just chosen to not investigate the clue she had left behind any further. Maybe he was relieved about not having to deal with her any longer.

Maybe she was going to die here – maybe even today.

Her bruises were getting larger, some of her cuts were infected, and she was sure that the broken rib she had was going to heal improperly. She had not been able to look at herself in a mirror, but she could still tell and feel how banged up she really was. And if her body kept fighting to stay alive the way it had so far, Pepper was certain that she had much more suffering to come.

The "sentences" Whitney had put her through for the past week and a half were becoming worse and worse; the redhead could not imagine how many more horrible ways to "get back at her" for "stealing Tony away," the blonde had been able to concoct and place on her list. The first sentence of being in a dark box with lack of food and drinks had been just the start, and now the only food and water she received was not at all fit to have. It would not surprise Pepper if one day Whitney fed her a cyanide tea with a dessert of rat poison pie.

When the pain was at its worst – like it had been this morning when Whitney had pulled some fingernails from the ginger with a pair of pliers – Pepper had almost wished that Whitney did poison her food, if only to not find out what other torture techniques she would come up with next. Unfortunately for the spunky girl, Whitney had no intention of cutting short her vengeance siege.

Even if she had almost choked on the symposium ticket Whitney had just made her eat, Pepper did not give the blonde the pleasure of seeing her beg for her life – at least not yet, but she knew that soon she would. She would hold off on it, however, as long as she could. The last thing she wanted to give Whitney was a reason to feel as if she had won the war. Perhaps Whitney had outfoxed everyone she knew, including her boy genius, and maybe Whitney had been smart enough to think up all the clever ways she was torturing her with, but it would be Pepper's last resort to ask her to stop.

Only much later, after Pepper had been severely beaten with various objects, had her leg broken, had her hair cut and bleached against her will, and Tony had still not shown up even after three weeks had gone by since she had left New York City, would Pepper Potts finally scream for the blonde to stop.

Regrettably, Whitney never did.

xxxXXXxxx

Nick Fury had foolishly believed that if James Howard Stark was no longer in the picture, that Tony Stark and Pepper Potts-Stark would have no reaction other than to drift apart. The physical distance between them and the emotional sorrow they carried should have separated them forever. It should have left them vulnerable, out in the open. It should have made them easy targets – as their son had been. However, somehow the tragedy had pushed them closer together, even after they had briefly split apart. Tragedies and obstacles always pushed them back together, made them stronger, and Nick Fury was sick and tired of that.

Why were they not dead by now?

At this rate, he would be dead before them! And that was something that the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. refused to accept. He had a mission to accomplish, and even if it became his last, he would not fail!

It was becoming increasingly difficult to hide his burden from the people around him, especially those that had known him for years. Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Maria Hill had all dropped hints about what they suspected about him, but he always reminded them that he was old – much older than them, and that what they were witnessing was nothing more than the natural passing of time.

Except that it was not. And he was uncertain of how long he would continue to be able to lie to everyone. Including himself.

Nick stared at his watch and sighed. His appointment was late, but then again, that was no surprise. It was a miracle that he had been granted this audience in the first place, and even though his face would denote how irked he was to be kept waiting, for the sake of his mission and pride, he was going to bite his tongue. That was all he could do for now; and perhaps until it all came to an end: shut his mouth and do as told.

"Nick," the General's secret 8 o'clock appointment began when he walked inside their clandestine meeting location, "I apologize for my delay. My employer had the last-minute need to have… words with us."

"I understand," Nick reply. "I know how demanding your employer can be."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Aldrich said with a shake of the head. "At least no one else died today. Although, Kevin Kowalowski came close. But he just ended up with a flesh wound."

Nick Fury visibly flinched. "That's always a plus."

Aldrich Killian nodded in response as he took the chair across from Nicholas Fury. The General gave the scientist time to organize his thoughts and get comfortable, and once the man was ready to relay his progress, Fury sat back in the chair and tried to relax – even though he knew that he never would until this mission was over and done with.

"Nick, I need more time."

Nick closed his eye and sighed. "What is it now, Killian? S.H.I.E.L.D., we… I've given you YEARS to complete the Extremis serum! To perfect it! What is the hold up now?"

"A new strain has surfaced," Killian explained in a tone that disturbed the General, and not because it was insulting or whiny, but because it made Killian seemed madder than he already was.

"What new strain? Tony Stark's version of it?"

"Not at all. Tony Stark's version of Extremis, the TSE, is a non-replicable fluke. It was born out of chance and factors that will never occur again. Maya and I have moved on from trying to exploit the TS-Extremis version – it's faulty anyway, easily susceptible to corruption. We've developed a new version of Extremis. One that can cure your illness… everyone's illnesses, no matter how advanced they are."

"So, if you've developed it already, how come I can't use it? I'm running out of time, Killian."

"Aren't we all?"

"My doctor has given me months to live."

"Oh," Aldrich furrowed his brow. "Treatment not going well? You've been at it for years! I wasn't aware that your situation was so… perilous."

"If it weren't," Fury began, "Then I wouldn't have joined you in your little science experiment. I wouldn't be doing everything possible to prevent anyone from finding out that your boss put out the hit on Tony Stark and his wife. You and your step-daughter would be behind bars by now."

"Oh, please," Aldrich replied with a scoff. "You have nothing on us to arrest us other than a lengthy history of relentless scientific inquiry and research activities. And if you tried to pull one of the tricks you're known for, you'd be on my employer's bad side. And I know you just don't want to be. You need him – you need us. Especially me. Especially now. I've heard that having a brain tumor is an awful way to die."

Nick narrowed his eye. "So is dying under the hand of your boss. Or so I've heard."

"It is, just like their son found out a while ago. But he needs me. He won't kill me so easily. You, on the other hand… you've got nothing to offer in exchange, Nick. At least not anymore. His words, by the way. Not mine."

"I DO have something to exchange."

"Really?" Aldrich leaned over the table. "What would that be?"

"The Starks. I can offer him to get rid of the only thing – the only people – that is preventing him from carrying out his plan."

Aldrich snickered, disbelief written all over his features and posture. "Do you know how many people have tried to carry out the bounty and have failed? Year after year? Rhona Erwin. AIM. The Maggia – under Sasha Hammer's lousy directions, might I add. The one who came closest to actually killing him and the girl was the Ghost, and he declined the bounty invitation. He was smart enough to figure out he would get more money by blackmailing Stark for life than by killing him and her."

"That is true," Nick conceded. "But none of them have what I have."

"And what is that?"

"The element of surprise," Fury explained. "Stark expected them to attack. He prepared for his enemies to show up. But what he would never expect would be for his own, for S.H.I.E.L.D., to stab him in the back."

"Mmhhh," Aldrich said with an eerie smile before he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He then stared Fury up and down for a long time and, after the silence that had befallen them ended, he finally extended his arm to him.

"On behalf of my employer, I accept your offer, Fury. The Starks, for your life."

xxxXXXxxx

It was the first time in months that everyone was gathered at the same location for a joyful reason – the last time it had been during the Thanksgiving get-together at the Rhodes, last year. After weeks of doubt and misery, the friends and family that the redhead and the inventor had acquired over the years were all gathered in their home, the Stark Solutions penthouse, to celebrate the accomplishments one of their own: Harold Hogan.

From her standing position by the balcony exit, Pepper admired the blissful scene before her. It reminded her so much of the Stark Solutions Christmas Party when Tony had proposed to her, as everyone present had a smile on their faces and shared cheerful stories of their own. Even after an innocent comment from Happy's parents regarding how proud they were of their only son – which had undoubtedly made Tony and Pepper flinch at remembering their own son was gone – the mood of the party had not been terribly affected by it in the end.

It was Happy's graduation celebration after all, and none of them, except the young Stark couple, of course, yet knew that Happy was being promoted to Recreational Activities Director within the company. Tony and Pepper had wanted to save the best for last, and had decided to first celebrate all the other accomplishments and good news their friends and family had to share with everyone. It felt right to leave aside the sadness for now, and to just focus on enjoying the time spent with the ones they loved.

Trish and Howard had announced their marriage to the world during the Stark Solutions Annual Christmas Party, just as they had planned, and the board had been more than happy for them; Mitch included, to their surprise. Pepper could not help the smile that came to her face whenever she saw Trish and Howard interact; it was obvious even to a blind person how much they cared for one another: this only confirmed where her own husband had inherited the ability to develop such devotion that he expressed to the woman he loved.

Virgil and Diane had gotten married as well, at city hall to top it off, claiming that a big, public wedding was neither wanted nor needed by either of them at their age. Pepper knew that they had avoided a celebration because of the baby's passing, and it made her feel guilty that she had not been aware sooner of how much her actions and attitude had affected everyone else's life. She still felt a little ashamed of herself for it, even after a long and heartfelt talk with her father, but she was starting to let go of the past she could not alter any more than she could control the natural passing of time.

Even her adoptive mother, Loretta Potts, was present at the party. It was still odd to be around the woman that had hardly had involvement in her life when growing up. To be honest with herself, it sometimes made her wonder why her mother was trying so hard to reacquaint with her. At first, Pepper had thought that it was because there was still maybe some unfinished business between her and Virgil, but those ideas had dissipated when the redhead had found out about Diane's involvement with her father. Moreover, she had also recently discovered that Loretta Potts herself was dating – a woman, in fact – and said woman had been rather expressive of her feelings for Loretta throughout the entire celebratory event. Loretta did not seem to mind.

Then there was Jarvis and Bambi, who Pepper could tell were starting to get to know each other better – or maybe they already had for a while and she was just now noticing this fact. Tony had not mentioned anything to her yet, so the ginger assumed that her husband would be shocked to hear the news once Pepper confirmed it to be true. It was more than obvious, however, since Jarvis had always been quite reserved when it came to his personal life. But ever since the two of them had arrived together, hours ago, the butler was yet to leave their Executive Assistant's side.

If only Rhodey was here as well!

Rhodey's parents were of course present, even if they had spent a lot of their free time traveling the country and had returned to the city just for this occasion. After selling their home, Roberta and David had done exactly what they had wanted to do with their money and time: they had bought a smaller home and an RV, and had used it since January to move around. Rhodey was not due back until next month, and even then, the man would just be relocating from Colorado to the Helicarrier. In a few weeks, Rhodey's second home would be her own one, and she could not wait to return the favor to her friend. If it were not for Rhodey's meddling and insistence, she and Tony may have never gotten together once more, for good, this time.

Then again, there were many people to thank for that. Loraine Jones was one of them, as were her family and friends – even the one friend that had declined to attend the party tonight: Gene Khan. The thought of the Mandarin alter ego made her wide smile turn into a noticeable frown.

She was yet to hear from him in weeks – ever since they had kissed at her house. Other than from the Makluan energy readings she could sometimes find by using their Stark 1 satellite, Pepper had no idea what was the state of Gene Khan. She did not know if he was mad at her, or just wanted to put some distance between them to sort out his feelings and thoughts. She did not know if he was avoiding her altogether and forever, or if he was just too damn busy with keeping his organized empire in tip-top shape.

Either way, it was very unlike him not to respond to her texts or calls.

I hope he's alright, Pepper thought and closed her eyes only to open them again almost immediately when she felt herself being pulled away from the balcony doors and pressed against the wall outside, away from the view of their guests' eyes.

"Tony?" she breathed into his left ear when she realized he had buried his face into her neck, his hands resting on her hips as he tremblingly kissed her exposed skin there.

"Tony," she repeated. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," he whispered to her but did not move. Instead, he intensified his hold on her hips and hid more of his face between her jaw and her left shoulder. "I'm just… it's just… I need… I saw…"

"What is it?" Pepper asked in a worried tone. "What's wrong?"

Even after asking the question for a third time, Tony failed to respond at all. His body continued to shake. He just held on tighter and tighter to her form, as if his ability to remain standing depended on it. Pepper's left arm surrounded his waist. The fingers of her right hand combed the hair on the back of his head, and when she felt him struggle to say anything to her, when he continued to hold on to her for dear life, she finally realized what was happening to him.

He was having another panic attack.

The redhead closed her eyes and pressed her left cheek against whatever she could of his still hidden face. She also intensified her grip on him, and allowed him to take his time to recover. There was nothing that needed to be said, nothing she could possibly communicate to him to make the episode move along any faster or get any better. All she could do was hold him and wait until he was ready to face reality again.

As she held onto her husband, Pepper's mind wandered to the first time he had scared her with scenarios such as the present one. They had been at their home lab at the penthouse, working on a cure for the corruption of Extremis in him, and he had suddenly fallen to the floor. At first, Pepper had thought that he had tripped since she had not been staring at him when it happened, but when she had asked him if he was OK and he had not responded, she had looked up to see him curled up in a ball.

The scene had reminded her of the time she had returned home from school to see him on his knees, baby James protected with his body, and a force field created from the one armored gauntlet he had had on his hand surrounding them both. She had not been sure if he had been having flashbacks to the incident, very much so as she sometimes did in plain daylight to the many horrible experiences she had lived through. But when it had become evident to her that he was having difficulty breathing, she had panicked right along with him and had called 911.

It had taken several hours, plenty of medication, and sedatives at the hospital to calm him down, and to this day she was not sure what he had thought about or had seen that had scared him to the point of almost having a heart attack. In the end, it did not matter what it was – there were too many options to choose from, unfortunately. What truly mattered was that he learned how to move past the episodes, just as she had, and that he always returned to the real world – to her. Although, it still scared her that one day he would not come back, even if nothing in their data showed that him not recovering was not a possibility. She still feared that one day, whatever chemical imbalance the dormant Extremis in him was causing, would deny him the ability to recognize her, to recognize himself, and that she would lose him to a virus that had once saved his dying heart.

She did not care if she had to be there for him for the rest of her life, monitoring and comforting him through every single panic attack. She did not care if he was never again able to spend the night together with her – so far they had not been able to. She did not care if they never won the case against S.H.I.E.L.D. to recover their freedom to have more kids. Nothing of that scared her. Nothing of that made her want to run away to find an easier life. All that truly frightened her, all that she prayed every day that would never happen, was for Tony to forget her, forget himself – who they were and what they meant to each other; what they had become. Just as she had forgotten about it once.

She did not want the tables to be turned. She did not want to be the one who had to let him go because he did not remember who she was. She was not sure how he had been able to do that for her – and she knew that she was weaker than him in that regard. She did not want to find herself having to be the bigger person and watch him fall in love with someone else; move on with a life that was not with her. She did not see herself being able to be without him, at all.

"I'm… I'm OK now," his voice barely carried over to her ears. "Thanks, Pep… I… I'm good now."

"Are you sure?" she inquired even though his body language spoke to her that he was now composed enough to speak properly again. The only reason why she even asked the question in the first place was because she herself was not ready to release him from her embrace. She was afraid that if he did not take the necessary time to order his thoughts after an attack, that it would slowly but surely chip away the little sanity that was left in him. She was scared beyond belief that he was pushing himself to the limits of his lucidness just so as not to worry her about it.

"Don't hurry it up, Tony. I can wait."

"No. No, Pepper. It's done. It's over. I promise you. It's done."

It took the redhead a few more seconds of him reassuring her before she finally let him pull away from her. He did not go far, anyway, and he actually just rearranged their positions so that she no longer had to stand at an awkward angle to be able to accommodate his taller form. She closed her eyes, rested the back of her head against the wall, and let him caress her face with his nose and lips. When he felt brave enough to brush his lips against hers for the first time in weeks, she did not allow him to move on to another part of her by firmly pressing her mouth onto his.

He hesitated for a nanosecond, but after he inhaled sharply in surprise, he finally kissed her back. It felt both foreign and familiar to him, to be able to taste her once more. It felt as if this was the first kiss they had ever shared, even if he had by now lost track of how many times they had exchanged lip locks. It also felt as this was second-nature to him, easily remembering what made her moan and shiver under his touch. His hands slipped under her blouse, around her waist and lower back, and he then softly scratched the skin there, causing Pepper to open her mouth to his. She was only able to last a few seconds like this before she gasped, pulled away, and looked down between him.

"Sorry," he told her as he licked the taste of her from his lips. "It's too soon, I know. I'm sorry. We… we shouldn't have…"

"No," she shook her head. "It's not that. I… I just…" she cleared her throat. "It's just that there's something I have to tell you before… before we do that again. Or anything else, actually."

"What is it?" Tony asked with concern, head slightly jerking back in the process, and he pulled away to stare at her face. "What's the matter?"

It was now her turn to take a moment to order her own thoughts. Before the dreaded words ever made it out of her mouth, her now free-flowing tears showed her fear of Tony's response. Her fear of losing his trust and his love.

"Pepper, you're scaring me now," he told her and lifted her chin with his hand. "Come on, Pep. Just tell me. What's wrong?"

She nodded to let him know that she was going to tell him the truth, so he gave her a moment to compose herself. She sniffled a little, wiped some of the tears with her hands and the inside part of her blouse, and then looked up to stare at him in the eye.

"When… when I was gone, after I left here, I had a lot of people visit me to help me cheer up – even try to change my mind about the divorce. One person in particular visited me very often, and I spent a lot of time with him. And I mean a LOT of time."

The words him and a lot made Tony knit his brow, and he briefly felt some jealous concern hit him. But then he remembered that this was Pepper – his Pepper, that he was listening to, and he knew that he had nothing to worry about.

"So?" he asked with a one-sided shrug.

"So," she continued. "One day, this person… Gene, he and I… we-we… well…" she exhaled deeply and opened her mouth to finish her sentence, but before she could muster the courage to speak again, Tony beat her to the punch.

"You kissed," he said as if he was just talking about the weather. "You and Gene kissed."

The ginger's eyes widened and the tears instantly returned. For a moment, she was not certain if she herself had said the words or if he had said them for her instead. Worst of all, she found it difficult to read his tone of voice. Was he asking or was he stating a fact? Was he angry or did he not care? How did he even know about that?

"Tony," she swallowed hard. "Me… Gene and I… I-I can explain."

"Explain what? That you kissed? I already knew that."

"W-what?" Pepper was hardly able to say anything else. Her voice was doing a terrible job at staying steady, and Tony was not giving off any signals or body language that she could easily read. Or maybe she was too shocked at realizing that he already knew about her little slip-up. Not to mention, the fact that he had not mentioned anything to her until now made his current response that much more confusing to her.

"Tony… before you say anything… before you get mad… let me… please, let me explain…"

"There's nothing to explain, Pepper," he said, nonchalant. "It was a one-time thing. I… I wasn't there for you and he was… and even if it shouldn't have happened, it did. But it's over now. It meant nothing to you. It was just a mistake."

Pepper shook her head, rubbed her face with her hands to dry her tears, and then looked at him again. His face was as calm and collected as if she had just told him that she had taken a walk down to the park. He was not angry, scared, or sad. In fact, he seemed as if he was already bored with the subject at hand.

Seeing how confused she was about his reaction, Tony chuckled lightly, rolled his eyes, and pulled her back to his chest to speak into her ear.

"Pepper, he told me. He came by and told me what happened, a few days after it did. We had words… we settled it out. And it's alright. We're OK, him and me. And you and me, we're OK, too. There's nothing to worry about."

He had hoped that his little explanation would have calmed her down, but she instead panicked even more and pulled away to stare at him.

"You, uhm, you settled it out?" she asked with concern in her voice, slowly beginning to fear that the reason why Gene was yet to talk to her was because of what Tony had done to him at finding out he had essentially made out with his wife.

"How… how exactly did you settle this out? Did you… did he… is he… is he…"

"Dead?" Tony scoffed and shook his head. "As if I could kill the Mandarin. No, I didn't kill him. Or even try to. We just… well, let's just say that we can call it even on the black eye he gave me a few years ago when he found out that I had broken my promise of staying away from you."

"You punched him? Tony! How could you! I can't believe you punched him!"

"You kissed him?" Tony instantly replied. "Pepper! How could you! I can't believe you kissed him!"

"Want to forget about it?" she immediately asked.

"Forget what?" he replied, a small smile on his face.

"Good call," Pepper responded and, after a moment of silence, the two youngsters began to laugh aloud, showing to themselves, and to everyone else who heard them laughing hard, that they were truly ready to move on with life.

The little time of it they had, anyway.

A/N: Oooh, we're halfway there… Oooh, living on a prayer, again! This story has only 8 chappies plus the Prologue and the Epilogue, so we're almost done with the point of this arc. I hope the Pepperony in here holds you up until I can update again, and I can't thank you all enough for your continued support. Does anyone remember what happens in May in these stories? Want to take a guess of what's to come next? Leave a review!