[Pepper shakes her head, not at all surprised by Tony's answer. She doesn't flinch away from his gaze though, because she is completely certain of what she's told him.]

That is not it at all, Tony Stark. She adores you, just as much as she would any blood relative. [Tony was the one Elicia went to when she needed to be held. He's the one she asked not to disappear, and the one she trusts to be there when she wakes.] She's as much your family as I am, even if you don't see it.