"Nothing could breach Stark Tower on the eve of the war's end, but that didn't mean Pepper couldn't be hurt. Several explosions went off near the edges of the building, and the structure shook violently. Pepper was too fragile. She broke her arm when she was thrown against something, and she might have broken two ribs as well," Stark said slowly.
"More seriously, there was her mental state. I don't think the scenes of war frightened her. She was a very strong person who had made it through countless disasters before. This time was no exception."
"I think the problem had always been our relationship." Stark grew somewhat agitated. He hammered the railing with his other hand and said, "She didn't believe that I chose to give up fighting for Stark Tower at the last moment. She began to lose track of who her lover really was. She didn't know whether she should believe the evidence of my crimes released by the media. Her mind was splitting apart."
"I had to stay by her side, but when everyone turned their weapons on me, I had to go deal with the bigger trouble. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to survive either."
Stark closed his eyes in pain and said, "If I hadn't gone with them, or if I had escaped on my own, they would definitely have accused Pepper of harboring a criminal."
"My name is Stark. For Stark Industries' sake, they would follow the legal process properly. But Pepper was only my secretary. Other than me, she had almost no one to rely on. I couldn't imagine what they would do to Pepper to force her to reveal my whereabouts. Even imprisonment alone would have been more than Pepper, in her condition, could endure."
"You were wrong beyond measure,"