This scene.
This is actually the first time in the movie that Tony doesn’t have his flippant, devil-may-care image that he shows in public or doesn’t have his defenses up to survive like he did back in Afghanistan. This is the first time we see Tony defenseless and open, in the figurative and literal sense. And who does he shows this side of himself to? Pepper.
And despite the people constantly surrounding and adoring everything he does, the only person he trusts to literally hold his life in their hands - is Pepper. Even though he plays it off as a joke in the end, she doesn’t roll her eyes at him or scoff or do her usual reactions whenever Tony is playing around. She keeps quiet and clenches her fists as she realizes he’s said so much in that single sentence - that when it comes down to it, she’s the only person he shows this side of himself to, and the only person he trusts not to judge him for it.
