"How long before the laboratories are setup for testing?" Tony tapped his fingers on his coffee table as he flipped through holographic files in the air. The past few days had been a roller coaster. He was back to work. CEO of Stark Industries. Now that the floodgates were open they couldn't be closed. He was trudging through a sea of dodged responsibilities and miscommunications.

Thankfully, Pepper was a skilled businesswoman but he'd left her to the wolves. Many things were a tangled mess, especially with his energy project. That and deconstruction of weapons-related facilities had been halted. And communications with old partners were left hanging. Tony had spent the last 48 hours on the phone putting out fires and getting the ball rolling again.

That and he finally moved out of the basement that served as both his home and prison for the past few months. He needed fresh air and a change of scenery. He'd spent one afternoon on the deck, blasting music while he basically drowned in paperwork. Pepper came and went but only spoke to him when she needed something. There were no pleasantries anymore. He'd been tempted to ask her to sit with him while he sorted through work but he knew it would end in a fight.

And that fight would lead to what they were both avoiding. At least, it was what he was avoiding. He couldn't pretend to know what was going on in Pepper's head.

But then there'd been a pleasant rainstorm and he moved inside where he continued to work the next day. His home was starting to feel like home again. It was difficult to come to grips with how trapped he felt in his basement until he was looking back on it. It was his own fault, still, but it felt nice to regain his freedom. At first, he'd felt silly for feeling so accomplished just because he'd moved into the living room, but dammit, he did. Jarvis agreed it was worthy of celebration and got him a drink to do just that.

It would take time to get through the chaos of his company and get things back in order. If he was planning on a big business deal with Refuge then he needed things in order. He didn't want Scarlett to think he couldn't keep control of things just because of some anxiety. Not that he felt judged by her. Quite the opposite actually. That being said, he wanted to impress her. Tony wanted her to feel welcome at Stark Industries. If she was going to visit Malibu to check things out then he would make it as enticing an offer as possible.

Once he set his mind to something, and really set his mind to it, there was no stopping Tony Stark.

He had to work with Refuge. It was non-optional though he couldn't properly explain the reason why. Maybe it was because it had gotten him out of the house for the first time in months. Or it could have been the connection he felt with Scarlett. Whatever the reason, he would make it happen. Tony would get what he wanted and this was the first thing he wanted in a long time. The fog had lifted at long last. It wasn't that the fear went away just that the fear wasn't crippling him anymore. Tony was a fighter. He'd forgotten how strong he was.

"Jarvis, did you hear something?" The music died down so Tony could listen better.

"Tony?" Pepper called from the foyer. "Tony, where are you? We need to talk."

"Maybe I should have stayed downstairs," Tony whispered and Jarvis made a frowny face appear above the paperwork to scold him. Waving it away, Tony cleared his throat. "In here, Potts."

"Look at this." Pepper held a magazine but was moving it so much that Tony couldn't see the details. "Look! I told you she was trouble. You argued with me but it's right here." Pepper apparently had different motives for avoiding Tony than he thought. She'd been looking for dirt on Refuge to try and talk him out of their deal.

"I can't see it if you keep moving it. Are you trying to show me or hit me with it? Can't tell." Tony stood. Pepper held the magazine for him and he took it and at once felt his heart drop. There was a picture of Scarlett stepping out of a black car looking particularly worse for wear. It was a poor quality picture though. It could have been the lighting or bad photoshop. The headline proclaimed that Scarlett had been treated for an overdose and had her stomach pumped at the hospital.

"She collapsed a few nights ago and had to be rushed to some hospital. One of the nurses reported it to the paper after she left. This is the picture she took with her phone. She's an addict, Tony. An addict and this is the last thing that Stark Industries needs. It's the last thing you need. It's hard enough with your reputation. We've taken enough hits as it is!"

"There's no proof of any of this in here that I can tell." Tony flipped through the article. "You know it's just what these trashy rags do. There's nothing confirmed. Just conjecture and no real source. There are typos even. I can't even tell if that's actually her. They used to do it to me all the time. Remember? Any guy with a goatee could pass for me in the right light."

"This is a real reason and it's still not enough?" Pepper scowled. "You said that I had no good reason other than a feeling so I found a reason."

"Except this isn't a real reason, Pepper."

"How is it not a real reason?"

"You know as well as I do that this isn't real. Tabloids are just that. Gossip. They did it to me for years!"

"They weren't always wrong about you, Tony."

"Yeah, but it was always blown out of proportion with a grain of truth somewhere in the story. I could have a cold and they'd report I was dying. Look at what this same paper says about me in the article." Tony flipped the article toward Pepper and pointed to the text. "Apparently I was in rehab for the last six months, Pepper. Rehab! Totally unsubstantiated and the source says someone close to me reported it. It's bullshit."

"Something happened to prompt this story. I know these tabloids take it to the extreme but there's usually a nugget of truth. You were gone for months, Tony. And if it's not drugs with her then it's something else. For all you know, she's using Refuge to do something illegal. You're just willing to jump into bed with this woman without doing any research!"

"First of all, you know the kind of research I do before jumping into bed with people and it's none." Tony attempted a joke but Pepper's face twisted in disgust so he moved on quickly. "I didn't run into this blind. I did the research. I did more research than I normally would for this kind of thing. Refuge is a solid company and Scarlett has more than proven her worth. You've got to trust me. Please." Tony didn't ask for much from Pepper anymore. If he could appeal to the part of her that trusted him, then maybe they could find peace. Or at least agree to disagree.

Pepper was hurt. He understood that. But this wasn't about their relationship. This was work. And they had to find common ground or there was nothing left that would save them. If they could find their way to at least being able to tolerate each other then maybe it wouldn't have to end with animosity.

But Tony had no evidence that friendship was still an option.

"Trust you?" Pepper's face was still curled up in disgust, like she'd smelled something rancid.

"That's all I'm asking."

"This isn't about trust, Tony."

"How is this not about trust?" Tony's hopes crashed. "Of course it's about trust. You don't trust me to do my job. You don't trust me to make decisions. You don't trust me to do anything anymore. While we're being honest? Why don't we get to the point. You're jealous. You don't want me to work with her because you're jealous."

"Excuse me? Why would I be jealous?"

"Hell if I know! The attention she gets running her company when you've been running mine for months? The fact that she's gorgeous? Maybe even that you didn't think of approaching Refuge before I did." It felt obvious. Her disgust for Refuge didn't make any sense otherwise. "So don't try to trick me into thinking that I'm not doing what's best for my company."

"She's not good for Stark Industries. That's all." Pepper's voice cracked and Tony knew he hit the nail right on the head. "And she is certainly not good for you."

"What would you know about what's good for me? Because I think I'm doing way better than I was even a week ago. So tell me how this isn't good for me."

"You're still not sleeping, are you? You get like this when you don't sleep! Your attitude is just…" Pepper groaned in frustration as if to express exactly what it was like.

"No, I didn't sleep but do you know why I didn't sleep?" Tony waited for her to respond but she said nothing then shrugged one shoulder. "That's right, because you don't care. You never cared. I tried to tell you a hundred times and you didn't care."

"I do care, Tony! I absolutely care! What am I supposed to do? Not sleep because you can't? One of us has to function!"

"I'm doing just fine without sleep." Tony set down the magazine atop the files he'd dug from storage. Pepper stared in awe at Tony as he went about his work. He was trembling with frustration, not something he was used to.

Pepper went through the stages in front of him and turned, sighing in annoyance. How dare he accuse her of not caring! He was her best friend. Or he had been. When she thought she'd lost him in the Middle East it ripped her apart. Her friend and confidant were gone. The more she realized that, the more she realized their dynamic had also changed. Not them so much, but their relationship. Maybe he was right. She hadn't cared.

Guilt washed over her at the realization. He'd needed her but she hadn't seen it. She'd been too busy with her own life and running Stark Industries. She'd forgotten the man who had everything might need a hand now and then. But was she willing to do that at this point? To pick him back up?

No.

She wasn't. Not as his girlfriend.

Pepper couldn't stand the idea of having to stay up all night to cater to fears he wouldn't bother sharing. She couldn't even condone the violence that went hand in hand with him being Iron Man. It was one thing to clean up his messes in a professional setting but another to do it as his girlfriend. Where was the line between work and personal life? There was no line anymore. It was all work. And that was a problem.

"I'm not concerned about Scarlett being an addict." Tony wasn't sure why Pepper was still standing there if she had nothing to say. "The media did the same thing to me for years. I'm a good judge of character, Pepper. If I sense something's actually amiss I won't hesitate to cut the deal. I'll put a clause in the contract that we both have to agree that we have the choice to do that. You don't have to trust me. But you do have to listen to me. I'm CEO of Stark Industries and what I decide goes."

Pepper opened her mouth to speak.

"Miss Potts? Mr. Hogan has arrived to pick you up for your afternoon meeting." Jarvis spoke politely and Pepper shut her mouth tight. Sure enough, moments later, Happy Hogan stepped into the room. He'd put on a bit of weight since Tony had last seen him but he was over all in good spirits.

"Hey, I stopped by that place you like and picked up some cronuts…" He drifted off upon seeing Tony. He didn't even greet him.

"Hogan." Tony's stomach twisted into knots as Happy immediately avoided his eyes. Like he had something to hide.

"I haven't seen you in ages! You uh… doing okay?"

"Just great." Tony nodded to Pepper. "Go. I know you want to." Tony didn't look at either of them. He didn't want to. Was he jealous? Not of Happy, he was sure. It was more that he was jealous that both of his friends had abandoned him for each other. Maybe it was unfounded or maybe it wasn't. It didn't matter. Tony had other things to worry about.

Tony flipped through digital files while Happy and Pepper had a silent exchange. From the corner of his eye, he saw Happy take Pepper's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. "Come on. We're going to be late."

"You're right." Pepper said nothing else and left with Happy. Tony waited until he heard the door and stayed silent for several more moments, listening.

"Jarvis? Are they gone?"

"Yes, sir. Mr. Hogan's car has left the premises."

Tony wondered for a moment what Jarvis' opinion on all this was. But he never asked and Jarvis never said anything. Tony didn't need another person to argue with. There was no one left in his corner. He'd alienated himself from everyone.

Sadness crept in on him again. Maybe he should go downstairs and sort out his thoughts while working on his suits. It was less lonely down there. He slumped back on the couch with a sigh, leaning so low upon it that he was nearly flat with the exception of his legs still hanging off the edge and his head propped up by cushions. Lazily he groped for the files on the table and instead picked up the magazine on top of the pile. He flipped through the pages. Stories about tumultuous celebrity relationships, body augmentations, and supposed secrets of the rich and famous.

Tony both understood and didn't understand that sort of fascination. How boring must the ordinary life be to want to live vicariously through people they couldn't relate to? He stopped on the story about Scarlett and read the article thoroughly. He'd only skimmed it before. There were several pictures but they were poor quality and offered him no insight to the truth. There was no police report or medical records left behind. It was likely bullshit. There was no account of her even being admitted anywhere.

And yet.

Like Pepper said, stories in these magazines were usually built around a grain of truth. And he didn't think the truth behind this story was that Scarlett was a highly functioning drug addict who overdosed.

Tony sat up, which was a chore because of how he was laying, then closed the magazine and set it aside. Hands atop his lap, a laser keyboard glowed beneath his fingers. Jarvis could do this for him anywhere at any time in his home and his office.

He searched for the online version of the article and found quite a few in reference to the same story. It seemed that almost every media outlet, both credible and not, was reporting something similar. Not addiction so much, but that Scarlett had fallen mysteriously ill and was looking under the weather. No statement had been released by Scarlett or her Public Relations agent.

Tony scowled.

No response meant one of two things. Either there was so little validity to the claim that it was left to fizzle out. Or, and this was what alarmed Tony, they were avoiding giving it any validity because something did happen. That and the fact that there was more than one report on the matter was suspicious too.

Suddenly, Tony needed to know what happened that night.

He checked the dates again.

Monday.

Wasn't that the same night where he'd stayed on the phone with her? Falling asleep on the couch while they talked? Like some kid infatuated with a crush? He'd tried to dismiss that comparison but damn, it was accurate.

Was this the reason she was awake at that ungodly hour? His stomach turned. If she'd been sick then why wouldn't she mention it? Hospitalization was a pretty big deal. Then again, they didn't know each other very well and that was a very personal thing. He ran his tongue over his teeth and made an obnoxious noise before tapping his fingers on his leg.

"I should stop looking."

"Absolutely." Jarvis responded.

"I wasn't looking for validation."

"Well, maybe you should."

"Not from you."

"You're obsessing, sir."

"Since when does that bother you?"

Tony searched against his better judgment. An hour later, Tony leaned back to view his work. Before him were a dozen stories, all on the same topic: Scarlett's mysterious collapse. Most of the theories were absurd. It, again, reminded him of his own press in the past. When he looked himself up out of curiosity, he found stories that something terrible had happened to him too.

Then again, there was some truth to that. Tony was dealing with trauma. He was still figuring it out. It was too soon to label things. Even so, the theories that bloggers, reporters, and journalists came up with were amusing. It was good for a laugh.

"Are you trying to narrow down the true story, sir?"

"Most of this doesn't make any sense." Tony pointed at one of the articles in particular that made him laugh out loud every time he looked at it. "Pregnant? Really? A woman that smart doesn't get knocked up on accident. I met her. She was drinking. She's not pregnant."

"Shall we discard it, sir?" Jarvis tempted Tony with a set of virtual bowling pins at the far end of the room.

"Absolutely." Chuckling, Tony crumpled up the digital article then tossed it across the room with a dramatic flourish. With a clatter, each pin fell over and the word 'strike' appeared, flashing in various colors. "Still got it!"

"Bravo, sir."

"Reset the pins, Jarvis. There's a lot of crap to sift through." Tony picked up another article. "Fatigue, my ass. She was fine that afternoon. Then she was on the phone with me until you tucked me in."

"She did not hang up until I assured her you were asleep, sir."

"Well, that's sweet."

"You slept like a baby."

"I don't know how I feel about that phrasing."

"Well, that's too bad."

"I missed your sarcasm, Jarvis."

"And I yours, sir."

"Alright, so we've got drug abuse which Pepper really clung onto. She didn't even know when I was out of my head on something back in the day so we can't really trust her judgment on that."

"It isn't an unreasonable option. There are many functioning addicts in your line of work."

"This? Is not functioning." Tony pulled the article closer. "We're not sure that she actually collapsed either."

"And yet here we are assuming she is. The odds that this many news sources would be this ill informed is quite slim. Something happened, we just do not know what."

"You're right." Tony rolled the virtual article and grimaced as half the pins fell. "7-10 split. Just my luck."

"We're running out of options, sir."

"What about this one?" Tony pulled up the article from a smaller publication. It didn't have many readers but had a growing cult following. From what Tony could tell after quick research, it wasn't the same tabloid nonsense that many bigger magazines and blogs fell victim to. There were actual stories. There was gossip too but it was labeled as such. "Scarlett Damien greets me on the steps of the SHIELD building and assures me once again that she is doing just fine. I have asked her what she's doing there but with her charm she always subverts my attention. Even as weary as she seems on this particularly gray Boston day, she manages to charm a smile out of me and convince me that it's just business and she's fine."

Tony browsed through the article. It was well written and interesting. Tony wasn't convinced that it proved anything other than that Scarlett was charming.

"It is undeniable that there are reports of a collapse or a medical incident the day prior but I am not dumb enough to ask either. Instead, I observe her and I note that she is struggling but with what, I do not know. In theory, I think she visits SHIELD in exchange for something, something she will not reveal to the public. Either that or something from her mysterious past has caught up with her."

"Well, that's all very interesting. Still no facts. Just conjecture. An opinion piece."

"Different than the others though. Well informed. Smart. Framed as a theory rather than fact." Tony continued reading the article to its end then browsed through the website's archives. "Seems she writes about Scarlett frequently. I'm mentioned in here too. She asked about the deal with me and said Scarlett didn't have an answer for her. Which is… true."

"Not another one for the bowling pins then?"

"I'm afraid not. What's the journalist's name?"

"A Mrs. Dianne Hendricks."

"Get her information. Maybe she'll talk to me."

"I am going to advise against this, sir."

"Why's that, Jarvis?"

"Don't you think Miss Damien deserves privacy? If she wants to tell you what happened then I imagine she will. You said it yourself, she barely knows you. You're obsessing, sir. If you want her to trust you at all, then I recommend you push this to the back of your mind."

"Yeah, okay, like that's going to happen." Tony grimaced but sat back down on the couch. He tucked the article away for the future and followed Jarvis' advice. Jarvis was right. Tony was obsessing and nosy. And he was worried. He tried to imagine that if it was him, he'd want his privacy.

Wait.

Why was he worried?

Tony wasn't sure.

"Wasn't I doing something before falling down the rabbit hole?"

"Yes, sir. You were working."

"Right, right. I guess I should keep doing that." Tony snapped his fingers and screens came back to life one by one. He would continue through work to get things in order for his deal with Refuge. But his mind kept wandering to the story. One way or another, Tony would learn the truth. But he would do it the right way. By learning it directly from her.