"No, I mean for everything," Pepper replied, her voice still a little less steady than she would have liked. At that point, though, everything was a little less steady than she would have liked.

"Not just that- Although that was nice. Um." She floundered, her thought processes frustratingly slow. "Unexpected. But I mean all of it, getting me out and the chest piece and-"

Only then did it occur to her that he must have literally taken it out of his own chest to hand it over for her. Through the thrum of her headache and the powerful urge to cry, she realized that he probably would have done as much even if he hadn't had a replacement.

"Just thank you," she finished, chin still trembling a bit despite her best efforts to reel in the waterworks.