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Steve is surprised when Tony perks up as they step out of the quinjet and onto the flight deck of the helicarrier. After they had handed Loki over to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Jarvis had removed the rest of the Iron Man suit, Tony had led them to the nearby schawarma establishment he had mentioned. He had all but melted into one of the plastic chairs as they waited for their food. During the ride back for their debriefing, he’d gone on and on about all the repairs he would have to make to his tower and his latest suit. Two days before, any one of them would have knocked him unconscious after a few minutes, but now they all recognize his long-winded speech as his coping mechanism, his way of bringing himself back under control after the chaos of battle.
It takes Steve only a second to locate what has grabbed piqued Tony’s interest. Fury is standing a few hundred feet away, with a furious looking red-headed woman jabbing his chest with one finger. Steve is more than a little surprised to see Fury actually take a step back, holding up his hands in surrender.
Thor, too, seems a little awestruck. “I have not seen the Director losing ground to any of his enemies before now. This fiery maiden must be a ferocious warrior.”
Natasha smirks. “She sure as hell is.”
Before Steve can ask after the women’s identity, Tony makes a wounded sound in the back of his throat and takes off running towards the pair. Bewildered, the rest of the team follows, though Clint and Natasha elect to do so at a much slower pace. Fury sees them approaching rapidly, and interrupts the woman to point at them. Her head whips around so quickly that Steve is amazed that her head doesn’t simply fall off. Tony grabs her by the shoulders and starts talking so rapidly that they can barely understand him.
“Are you okay? I called you earlier, and you didn’t pick up, but you always pick up when I call, so I was worried that something had happened to you! Your plane didn’t get dragged into the shit storm, or ordered out of the sky by these assholes or something, did it? ‘Cuz if that happened, I’ll start cracking skulls, and-”
“Tony, Tony!” She manages to loosen his grip and bring her own hands up to cradle his face. “I’m fine. I was more worried about you. I was watching the coverage on T.V. when you called, and when I saw you drop like a stone and realized I’d missed your call, I just…” She inhales shakily, closes her eyes, and presses her forehead to his as his arms go around her waist. “I thought I almost lost you again.”
Tony pulls her into a full embrace and her arms go around his neck. He buries his face against her neck, and the two of them stand together, ignoring everything around them.
Fury moves to stand next to Steve. “You were wrong, you know,” he says quietly.
Steve looks at him questioningly. “About what?”
“About Stark. He doesn’t just fight for himself.”
Fury nods toward the couple, who are just beginning to pull apart. “He fights for her, too.”
Steve turns his attention back to Tony and the woman, watching them share a quick smile before turning to face their audience.
“Everyone,” Tony starts, still holding the woman’s hand. “I would like to introduce you to the lovely Ms. Pepper Potts. Pep, this is Captain Steve Rogers, Dr. Bruce Banner, and Thor Odinson.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen,” Pepper replies warmly, giving them each a nod but staying close to Tony.
Steve watches the pair as the entire group move inside at Fury’s request, watches them throughout the debriefing, observes every subtle interaction between them, and has to admit that he was definitely wrong about Tony.