Agent Pepper

Stark Industries Headquarters. Night.

The entire floor was empty. Most of the fluorescent lights were off, leaving only a few emergency lamps at the end of the corridor casting a bleak white glow. Pepper's heels clicked crisply against the floor, the sound echoing through the empty hallway. Her shadow stretched long beneath the lights, reaching from one doorway to the next.

She stopped outside Obadiah Stane's office.

The door was dark wood, its brass handle polished to a shine that reflected her blurred silhouette. She took a deep breath, reached out, and entered the backdoor access code Tony had given her into the keypad beside the door.

The touch of her fingers against the numbers was cold and precise. The instant she pressed the final digit, the lock gave a soft click and opened.

Obadiah's office was huge. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows lay Los Angeles at night, countless lights spreading through the darkness like a glowing sea. The desk was dark solid wood, its surface so clean it looked as though no one had ever used it. There was only a desk lamp and a computer.

Pepper sat in Obadiah's chair. She turned on the computer, and the screen lit up. Looking at the lock screen, she inserted the USB drive Tony had given her. As streams of data flashed rapidly across the monitor, she fell into remembrance.

"I've already sent next Tuesday's board meeting materials to your email." Without looking up, Pepper swiped a finger across her screen. "Also, Colonel Rhodey called again to ask whether you're going to the Air Force Academy banquet this weekend. He said—his exact words—'Don't stand us up again this time, or I'll come tie you up myself.'"

"Mm," Tony replied, but said nothing else.

Pepper waited two seconds, then looked up at him.

Tony was staring at her intently, his eyes pleading.

"Pepper," he said.

"Yeah?"

"I need you to help me do something."

Pepper closed her tablet and held it against her chest as she looked at him. "What is it?"

Tony silently opened his mouth, as though weighing his words. When he finally spoke, his voice came out strained and fragmented.

"There may be something in Obadiah's computer. It isn't connected to the network. I need you to get it out."

Pepper unconsciously tightened her grip on the tablet. She remembered Tony saying, "I have no one else but you." She only looked into his eyes, where she saw something she rarely saw from him: trust, pleading... and worry?

"Okay," she said.

Tony took a tiny USB drive from a drawer in the workbench. Its silver casing bore no markings. He placed it in Pepper's hand, then turned aside and pulled up a string of code on the tablet, quietly telling her the password for the backdoor access. His voice was low and fast, as if he were merely giving instructions for an ordinary task.

"Pepper," he said one last time.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful. Don't let anyone find you."

"Miss Pepper, I believe we found it." JARVIS's voice came from the computer. The moment the USB drive had been inserted, JARVIS's subprogram had begun decrypting the files.

She shook her head and looked at the screen. The information displayed there made her heart sink bit by bit.

Transaction records. Payment receipts. The recipient was a name she had never heard before, but she recognized the weapon models listed in the notes. They were Stark Industries products, from the batch marked "destroyed."

Then more files appeared: weapons, kidnappings, footage of Stark being beaten in the cave, and that crude hunk of metal—the prototype he had built by hand. Related data kept appearing one file after another.

Pepper's breathing grew rapid. She stared fixedly at the monitor.

"Send it to Tony."

"I cannot, Miss Pepper. I need a network connection."

"Then copy everything."

"Completed. We can leave now."

She pulled out the USB drive and hurried away.

Inside the elevator, Pepper leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. The metal was cold against her back through her sweater. The hand clutching the USB drive was still trembling. Then, as though making up her mind, she strode toward the location in the files.

Stark Industries Headquarters. Area 16.

Pepper had found an area designation in the files that she had never seen before—"Area 16." Beside it was a rough location map, marking a spot deep beneath Stark Industries Headquarters, with several passages outlined in red. There were also several design blueprints for silver-gray metal armor loaded with weapons—missile launchers, Gatling guns, and shoulder-fired rockets.

It was a long corridor with dim lighting and bare concrete walls, unpainted and undecorated. The air smelled of engine oil and metal, mixed with an indescribable cold dampness.

At the end of the corridor stood a massive metal door, faint light seeping through its seams.

Pepper walked toward it, her footsteps producing dull echoes in the empty hallway. She shoved open a side door beside it and entered.

She stood inside an enormous factory hall. It was dark, and she switched on her phone's flashlight as she felt her way through the gloom.

At the center of the factory stood a suit of armor.

Iron Monger.

It was three times larger than Tony's Mark series. Its silver-gray metal shell was rough and heavy, unlike Tony's sleek armor. It was all sharp angles and weld seams, as though pieced together from steel plates one by one. Missile launchers hung from its shoulders, each missile as thick as an adult's arm. Its arms were fitted with Gatling guns, six barrels lined up like the fangs of some prehistoric beast. The recess in its chest was exactly the same as the one in Tony's armor.

It stood there like a sleeping monster.

Pepper looked up at it, craning her neck to its limit just to see its head. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around her phone, her knuckles turning white. She raised the phone and pressed the shutter.

Click.

Countless lights snapped on, bleaching the entire space as white as an operating room. Tiny particles of dust floated in the air, drifting slowly through the light.

Pepper stiffly turned her head.

Obadiah Stane stood in the doorway.

He wore a dark gray suit, his bald head gleaming coldly beneath the stark white lights. He was smiling, a gentle, elder-like smile. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, the wrinkles at his eyes smoothed out, as though he were welcoming an unexpected guest into his home. But his eyes were cold, filled with chill.

Two subordinates in black uniforms stood behind him. Both were bald, heavily built, and expressionless, like two stone statues.

"Pepper." Obadiah's voice was calm, as though greeting her in the office. There was even a trace of warmth in his tone. "You shouldn't have come here."

Pepper took a step back. Her spine struck the armor around Iron Monger's foot. The metal was icy cold through her sweater, making her shiver. She instinctively gripped her phone tighter, but it had no signal, even though it had been full bars just moments ago.

Obadiah's men stepped forward. They did not move quickly, but each step carried an irresistible pressure. Rough fingers pried open Pepper's hand and took the phone. Obadiah accepted it, turning it between his fingers before tossing it into a trash can.

"Tony sent you?"

Pepper said nothing. Her lips pressed into a line, her chin lifting slightly. She would not beg, nor would she lie. She simply stood there with her back against Iron Monger's cold armor, answering everything with silence.

Obadiah smiled. There was no warmth in it. Looking at Pepper's face, he said, "Lock her up. Keep an eye on her." He addressed the men behind him. "I'll deal with her when I get back."

He turned and walked away. After two steps, he stopped at the door.

"Seal off Area 16," he said. "No one goes in or out."