"Despite my creepy former boss deciding that the correct response to a 'No' was to wait a decade and a half, kidnap me, and try and turn me into his super-powered girlfriend through biotech torture?" Pepper concluded, brittle despite her smile and her take on the situation a little different and a little more personal than Tony's. "Aldrich should have read the Evil Overlord Handbook, I think. Or a workplace harassment one."

Sitting up, she ran her hands along her arms, even if the now-banked fires of Extremis meant that cold didn't trouble her like it used to. Some chills were psychological ones. She nodded to the little dish of cotton balls, explaining in a patent, and rather failed, attempt to push past the note of bitterness in her voice to a more neutral observation that "I didn't know if you were a fan of the polish, and I thought I'd offer you a choice of better colours if you were. But I didn't mean to wake you up if you were actually getting some rest."