When he accepted Tony's communication request, the first thing Tony said was:
"Where are you right now?"
"340 kilometers above Washington—I'm on the Sky Hammer. What's wrong?" Harry said from the sofa.
At last, he could sit down properly and have a chat with this "colleague."
Tony had always been good to his friends, even though the way he had handled this matter had made a lot of people extremely uncomfortable.
"Well, I was thinking... you know, having a meal, strengthening our connection, that sort of thing." Tony paced back and forth in front of the screen as he spoke. It was clear that he was far less calm than he sounded.
Harry smiled. "We can talk about that when there's time. How's Pepper?"
"Everything's normal... How did you do it? I mean..." Tony could barely bring himself to continue.
Garrett had sent him the video of Pepper's execution. He had asked Jarvis to inspect it; the footage had not been altered. It was all real.
In the video, Garrett pressed a pistol to the back of Pepper's head and fired three shots. The final bullet went through her skull, spraying blood and brain matter everywhere.
That day in Saint Petersburg had been the longest day of his life. Even so, he had followed Harry's instructions and dismantled the Anti-Airborne System. That alone showed that he was no weak-willed man.
So when he later saw the Winter Soldier's memories, he had almost felt as though two timelines had overlapped. In a daze, he had the illusion that he had lost all his loved ones on the same day.
His rage had nearly driven him out of control, until Harry told him that Pepper was still alive.
But how could anyone be saved after being shot in the head three times