You Could Make a Case for That

It's amazing to me that anyone can watch the Siberia fight and think Tony is the victim. He's dumping concrete on Steve, firing lasers at two unarmored men, firing point blank into Bucky's face, pounding so hard he dents concrete, slicing off Bucky's arm and THEN shooting Bucky in the back.

If the Rescue armor existed during Civil War, who would Pepper Potts really think needed help?

Note: Just a reminder, the only thing Tony actually saw was the CCTV video, which was on Howard's side of the car. The images in the car of Maria's death are Bucky's memories.

Pepper knew she was breaking the law. She'd assigned someone to analyze the Sokovia Accords to see if Tony signing them had any liability for Stark Industries. She was sure she was breaking something in that document by flying after Tony without clearance from anyone. She KNEW she was violating some country's airspace with each border she crossed.

But Friday said Tony was in trouble.

As she drew closer to where Tony was, she said, "Friday, patch me in to Tony's audio and video feed. I want to see what I'm up against."

She frowned at the old-fashioned TV that popped into view. There was a video playing of a car crash.

Then a man who had been in the news as the Winter Soldier--World War 2 veteran James Buchanan Barnes--came into view.

Pepper watched the Soldier kill Howard Stark.

Then the Soldier walked to the other car--likely killing Maria Stark--and then shot out the camera.

She saw Steve's face as she heard Tony say, "Did you know?"

Steve replied, "I didn't know it was him."

Tony repeated, "Don't bullshit me, Rogers. Did you know?"

Steve said, "Yes."

Pepper let the auto-pilot guide her suit as she watched a brutal fight. At first, she was rooting for Tony. Of course he would lash out. He was upset.

But Pepper's sympathy turned to horror as she watched Tony fire directly at Barnes' face. And use a laser that scored a deep cut into concrete.

When Tony fired at Steve, Pepper was glad when Steve deflected the shot and Tony slammed against the wall.

She figured THAT would make Tony stop and think.

She was wrong.

She watched Tony aim a missile at Barnes, who was only trying to escape.

Tony's attacks were brutal, and Pepper had to live each one as if SHE was the attacker. Each time Steve tried to push Tony back, Pepper hoped Tony would realize what he was doing.

Finally she saw the men in a room with open slits to the mountain air. "Guide me there," she ordered.

When she landed on the ledge, she barely fit through the gaps in the concrete. She watched Barnes and Steve shift as if they had to defend themselves against her as well as Tony. When she was in the room, she moved in front of Barnes, faced Tony, and shouted, "Tony, stop!"

There was no sound except the soldiers' heavy breathing and the hum of the suits.

Then Tony said coldly, "Get out of my way."

Pepper could see Tony and could see Tony's view of her from his suit. She shook her head and said, "No."

Tony took a step forward and said, "He killed my mom."

Pepper replied, "So he gets arrested and if guilty, goes to jail."

She said more softly, "Tony, please don't do this. You're not a murderer."

Pepper saw Steve quietly shift behind Tony and make some signal to Barnes.

Tony raised his hand and aimed a gauntlet directly at Pepper. He said, "Move aside. Final warning."

Pepper was shocked. She said, "I'm not going to move, Tony. Do you really want to do this?"

Everything happened at once. Tony fired at Pepper, but Barnes pulled her out of the way.

Pepper watched as Steve swept Tony's legs out from under him. Steve sat on Tony's stomach and started punching Tony's helmet.

She started forward, then suddenly the helmet broke. When Steve pulled it off Tony's head, Pepper understood what was going to happen.

As Steve reached for his shield, Pepper said, "I'll do it."

She fired a pulse directly at Tony's arc reactor. As it went dark, Pepper retracted her own helmet and said softly, "I'm sorry, Tony."

Tony glared at her and said, "Traitor."

Steve got up and walked over to Barnes and Pepper. He said, "Thank you. I know how hard that was."

Pepper nodded. She said, "Get Barnes out of here."

It was a silent trip up to the surface of the base. When Tony and Pepper reached the top, she was shocked to see the King of Wakanda there with a bound man.

T'Challa said, "This is the man who killed my father. I have summoned transport to deliver this bomber to the authorities. You are welcome to accompany me."

Pepper thanked the king. Tony glared at the two of them and said nothing.

Pepper knew what Tony was like. She knew how long he could hold a grudge.

So she should have known even their friendship was completely over. Outside of business discussions, they never spoke again.

When the Snap happened, she kept Stark Industries together as Tony became a hermit in an isolated cabin.

What Pepper didn't know, was how she had saved trillions of lives. Tony didn't have Pepper or Morgan, so he didn't insist that his perfect life be kept safe. Instead, Bruce snapped their universe back to five years ago, before the Time Stone went to Titan. Everyone stayed on Earth, and Thanos was defeated in Wakanda.

Pepper ended up meeting May Parker the second time around. They lived happily ever after.