"I don't doubt it," Nick answered shortly. He was sure Stark was probably shaken up. He was also sure that he didn't want Iron Man bailing on the team like Captain America had. What he needed was "insurance." Pepper had said something off-handedly when they'd had dinner in Vegas about wanting to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury had been thinking about it ever since. Perhaps having Ms. Potts around might somehow keep Stark nearby. "It's tough on all of us. I depended on Cap for a lot of things. Not that I can't depend on Stark-" he paused and gave her a conspiratorial smile, "Okay, I can't depend on Stark. You know how he is."