IRON RESOLVE

Obadiah Stane was dead.

And Pepper didn't quite know how she was supposed to feel about that.

They were friends, right? Or rather, they were Tony's friends. Tony Stark was the kind of man who had his own gravity, and even an older man like Obadiah had ended up orbiting Tony's blazing star—right up until the very end.

…But if she was being honest, Pepper had never particularly liked him.

Not that Obadiah Stane had been evil or anything, but he was from an older generation of businessmen, one that couldn't quite shake certain habits. Tony had a reputation as a philanderer, but in truth, he wasn't much of a womanizer—despite what the media would have people believe. Stane, on the other hand, had never met a woman he didn't look down on and infantilize.

It had taken months of working as Tony's assistant before Obadiah had even called her by her actual name. Before that, it had been dollface, darling, dear. He had apologized once it became clear she wasn't just another assistant Tony would bed and discard, but the damage was already done. To him, she had always been Tony's secretary, nothing more.

Still, the man was dead, and here she was, standing at his funeral. It wasn't the time to dwell on such things—especially given what he had meant to Tony. After Howard Stark's death, Obadiah had stepped in as a mentor of sorts. He could have left Stark Industries and built his own empire, but he had stayed, helping Tony take the company to even greater heights than it had reached in his father's time.

And now, barely months after Tony's three-month-long captivity, he was gone. Just like that.

It wasn't fair.

And yet… Tony hadn't shed a single tear.

Throughout the service, he had been like a statue—silent, still, his gaze flinty and unreadable. She had expected some reaction. Anger. Grief. Something. But maybe he was all out of tears after Afghanistan. Maybe this was just who Tony Stark was now.

As for Pepper, she wasn't sure who she was anymore.

She was still his assistant, of course. But she was also warming his bed now, and Tony treated her less like an employee and more like a girlfriend. She liked that. More than she should ever admit out loud.

But nobody knew yet. Otherwise, she might have linked her arm with his, offering him warmth and comfort in his grief. Instead, she stood beside him, hands clasped around a small black purse, watching as the casket was lowered into the ground, dirt tossed atop it in slow, deliberate motions.

The moment the ceremony ended, Tony turned and walked away. Pepper followed, as she always did—only to find them both ambushed on the way.

"Mr. Stark, my condolences for your loss."

Pepper's eyes widened as the man from the press conference—Agent Coulson, if she remembered correctly—stepped in front of them.

Tony stopped. So did she. And in an instant, every fiber of her being bristled with outrage.

"Agent Coulson," she snapped. "I've told you multiple times now—we'll pencil you in when it works for our schedule. The day of a funeral is not that day."

Coulson's smile was calm. Placid, even. But at least there was some faint attempt at an apology behind it. Still, he didn't back down.

"And I do apologize, Ms. Potts," he said smoothly. "But it's very important that we debrief Mr. Stark on the events surrounding his escape from Afghanistan."

Pepper clenched her fists, ready to lay into him again. Tony was not in the right headspace for this, and she wasn't about to let some government agent harass him during a funeral, of all things—

"Sure."

Pepper blinked.

Tony's voice was calm. Cold.

"Let's do a debrief," he continued. "Right here. Right now."

Even Coulson, despite his ever-present smile, looked a little taken aback by that.

"I'd be happy to move this somewhere more comfortable if you—"

"No." Tony cut him off, his tone clipped. "No need. Why bother with comfort, Agent? I've always worked better in trials by fire, anyway. And you've been so eager to meet with me—I'd hope you already have your questions memorized. Fire away, because this might just be your only chance."

His voice was utterly devoid of warmth.

Pepper couldn't blame him.

Coulson hesitated for only a fraction of a second before inclining his head.

"How exactly did you escape captivity, Mr. Stark?" he asked. "You were found walking in the desert, alone, after managing to get away from the Ten Rings. How did you ever get out?"

Pepper had to admit—she was curious herself.

Tony, however, answered in typical Tony fashion.

"I made a magical suit of armor, enchanted it with the ability of flight, and flew away, Agent."

A beat of silence.

Then, Tony rolled his eyes.

"How do you think I got away? I blew everything up. Surely you spooks already knew that much."

Pepper winced at his caustic tone.

Again—she couldn't blame him.

"We found where you were held," Coulson acknowledged. "There wasn't much left to investigate."

Tony snorted.

"Yeah. Figured." He exhaled sharply. "It's simple, Agent. There was a man who saved my life. Not once, but twice. Ho Yinsen. He performed the surgery that kept me alive long enough for the Ten Rings to demand I build them weapons. And then, when I decided I was going to blow them all to hell instead, he's the reason I made it out. He got me out and set off the explosives behind me. And then I walked. And walked. Until Rhodey found me."

Pepper's breath hitched.

She hadn't heard this part before.

Surely… surely he was lying, right?

Tony had never been suicidal. Not once, in all the years she had known him. And yet—he had also never been kidnapped and tortured before, either.

Had he really reached the point of no return in those caves? Had he truly believed there was no way out, deciding instead to take as many of his captors down with him?

Her heart clenched painfully.

She almost lost him.

Coulson, meanwhile, slowly nodded. "Is that your official statement, Mr. Stark?"

Pepper's eyes narrowed.

Was he questioning Tony's word?

Sure, she had just wondered the same thing in her own head, but that was different.

She expected Tony to tear into him for it. Instead, he simply smiled. Cold.

"It is."

Coulson held his gaze for a moment. Then, he nodded again. He looked as though he was about to turn away—only to pause.

"I wonder, Mr. Stark…" he said casually. "Have you heard the latest from Afghanistan?"

Tony raised an eyebrow.

Coulson continued.

"In the last two weeks, every single known Ten Rings outpost in the region has gone dark. Weapons depots. Camps. Hideouts. The caves where you were held have been buried under thousands of tons of rock. Every cache of weapons has been destroyed. The surviving members of the group are scattered. On the run."

A shiver ran down Pepper's spine.

Before she could stop herself, she stepped forward. "Is there a question in all of that, Agent Coulson?"

Coulson looked at her.

And in that moment, she realized what she had just done.

She had defended Tony. Without even thinking.

From what, exactly?

From the implication that he might have had something to do with an entire terrorist organization being wiped out in under two weeks?

Ridiculous.

And yet—

"Good."

Tony's voice was quiet.

Cold.

Both she and Coulson turned to look at him.

"It sounds to me like they got what they deserved," Tony said. He smirked, but there was no humor in it. "My hat off to whoever took care of those bastards. Let me know if they come forward. So long as they're not terrorists themselves, I might just shake their hand and give them a million dollars."

Coulson regarded him for a long moment.

Then, finally, he nodded.

"We'll be in touch, Mr. Stark."