He gave the twisted freak alien credit; he'd been lulled into complacency with his two challenges. Well, the Dating Game hadn't been so bad. But the Mech challenge? He'd fought his way through by focusing on the fact that it was absolutely absurd; if he thought too much of the last time he was building armor under desperate circumstances, he'd be good for nothing, certainly not building the armor that was going to save their lives.
And he certainly couldn't think of how Pepper had been gone and then he'd been gone, and there was nothing he could do about her being gone but win the challenge so he could get back to fixing his armor so he could go and find her.
Then it was over, and he was suddenly back in his place - his home, for however long he was allowed to remain. And there she was, a Fury with copper hair bounding across the room and arms wrapping tight around him. He couldn't think, but then, he didn't need to. She was back and alive to hold him. This was more than acceptable.
He grabbed her and pressed her close, not to push at the lines and boundaries they always had but just because she was safe and he was not going to let her go into something like that ever again. "Good. Keeps you in mine," he said, almost embarrassingly hoarsely.