here's me (through you)
Summary: Tony Stark returns home. OneShot- Tony Stark, Pepper Potts. After the events of Avengers – Age of Ultron.
Warning: Drabble-ish.
Set: Post Avengers – Age of Ultron.
Disclaimer: Standards apply.
Even a person who wasn't a philanthropic, good-looking, genius billionaire would have recognized the need for special security of his home and grounds the latest after broadcasting his address to all the world in order to invite home a suicidal mass-murderer who, in truth, was merely a puppet of another philanthropic (though decidedly less good-looking), genius billionaire. As it was, Dr. Anthony Edward Stark had upgraded his security systems and firewalls personally. In his humble opinion, not even a blind-as-a-bat mole could enter the premises without being noticed. Additionally, he had the best security team one could find outside Fury's crazy SHIELD facilities, and every single of their members reported to the head of the house directly. Taking all these factors into account, it was impossible for even Tony to slip in unnoticed and the likelihood of him getting past the head of the house was virtually zero.
Virginia Potts, called Pepper, knew he was back even before Tony himself knew.
She was still wearing her official business attire, a blue skirt and cream-white blouse that brought out the lovely color of her skin and hair. A jacket hung from the back of a chair, her laptop sat on the table. The day's last sun light shone through the glass ceiling of the sun room and painted silver reflections onto the hardwood floor. The director of the world's largest and most successful business empire, namely, Stark Enterprises, was bare-foot, poised and lovely. Her smartphone at her ear she was standing at the far side of the room, her gaze directed towards the outside, and was listening intently.
Tony leaned against the door frame and just watched her.
"I agree," Pepper answered the other person at the end of the line. "There are some other aspects that might be of concern, though, and I would like to see them addressed as soon as possible."
While she listened, she cocked her head and her left hand came up to caress the covers of the books standing in the shelf next to her. It was one of the things Tony had noticed in her: she loved to touch things. Books, plants, surfaces, it didn't matter. And everything she touched, she touched with a care that made him ache on the inside. As if everything, even inanimate objects as unimportant as a-dime-a-dozen paperbacks, were precious and breakable. As if Iron Man, whose armor was made of the strongest alloy that existed on earth, who was a hero and a savior and an Avenger and a genius, was fragile and might shatter if she wasn't careful enough.
"No, that should be alright. Yes."
She knew he was there. Tony knew she knew. Not only because there was no way anyone would get past his security without her being alerted, not because he knew she had seen his reflection in the window panes. She knew because she had felt him, somehow, he had no idea how, and he knew she knew because he had felt himself react to her almost the instant she had noticed him. The deep, drowning weariness that had weighted down on him since he had realized that there was no way he could protect everyone and which he had carried through the last battle and through his good bye from the Avengers, suddenly lessened. It wasn't gone, not by a long shot. But it mellowed into an exhausted sense of calm that threatened to leave him weak-kneed and tongue-tied, and the relief at seeing her – always, again, every time – at the same time heightened all his senses and had him wide awake.
Pepper knew he was there, but she didn't turn. Tony stayed where he was, leaning against the mercifully stout and solid door frame (it had been a good idea to use European oak, at least it would survive Iron Man collapsing against it), and watched her.
"Another thing," Pepper said. "If you recall the project paper we received from the Council last week, do you agree with me on the fact that…"
Their eyes met in the mirror of the window panes and Pepper's soft smile of welcome disappeared abruptly. Instinctively, Tony straightened. Had he done anything stupid? He couldn't remember specifics. Well, aside from creating a murderous AI, letting it loose on the web and blasting the world with a rain of dust and ashes, and…
"I apologize, but something just came up." Pepper's voice held exactly the right mixture of surprise, polite regret and quiet resolution. "I fear we have to continue another time. I will have my assistant come up with a date for a face-to-face-meeting, would that be fine with you? Yes? Thank you, I appreciate it. Yes. Good bye."
Instead of turning around, though, she punched in another number. "Clarice? Yes, it's me. Would you cancel all my further engagements tonight and reschedule them? Thank you. Please divert my calls, too. Yes."
Then, finally, she dropped the phone and turned, and never mind Tony's reputation as hard-boiled womanizer, Avenger and Iron Man: he pushed himself off the door frame and almost fell into Pepper's open arms.
It was rare, waking up like this.
Pepper returned to consciousness slowly and softly, her body coming alive the same time as her mind. A quick check revealed that it was just past six and that she still had time – but her side was cold, and Tony wasn't anywhere in sight.
Pepper couldn't help the spike of anxiety that shot through her.
Carefully, she stood, crossed over to her wardrobe and pulled out a light summer dress. Donning it quickly she left the room, dreading what she might find. Usually, when Tony was upset, he buried himself in his lab. If he had gone downstairs it would be close to impossible to get him out again for weeks, and after the events of the last days she was fairly sure he'd search for all the distraction he could get short of throwing orgies in their living-room. Well, perhaps he would do even that-
She stopped cold on the threshold to the kitchen.
Tony was at the stove that had cost more than the entire kitchen furniture of her mother's house, murmuring to himself, paging through a virtual cookbook with one hand while conducting the band's music playing from the speaker system with his other. The music wasn't loud, probably as not to wake her, and the mess of ingredients on the kitchen counter gave her a rough idea of what he was up to. He was wearing a battered, old T-shirt and boxers, no shoes, his stubble was a dark shadow on his unshaven chin and she couldn't see his eyes. But his head was high and his shoulders weren't down in the defeated, exhausted way she had seen before, and he seemed…
He seemed fine.
The oddly domestic, completely unfamiliar sight of Tony Stark in his own kitchen, apparently in the process of preparing breakfast, almost made Pepper cry.
"Friday, how much grams is a tea spoon-full?" She heard him say. "What a stupid way to measure ingredients. Next they'll tell me to use a rule of thumb approximation in order to decide how many eggs to add. Really, what's with that?"
Oh, Pepper missed Jarvis fiercely. The memory of the second when the AI had vanished and she had known something wasn't alright once again drove a serrated blade into her heart and turned. He's alright, she told herself. He's here, and he's alright. He'll be fine. And he's making pancakes, for God's sake, what am I going to do if he burns down the kitchen-
"Dummy, fold in the cream, don't mix, didn't I tell you-"
Then, he noticed her and whirled around. His smile became brittle. "Pepper."
It was strange, she reflected, how the most confident man in the world - the one person who always had a retort, always had a comeback - could be so uncertain and insecure when it came to himself and to the people he loved. She had seen him interact with the Avengers – knew, in fact, that he held them in high regard, and that he would die for them if it was necessary, even had shown it already – and she had seen him interact with the world. Nothing – nothing! – in his behavior had ever suggested that he was putting up an act. Oh, of course Pepper had read the newspapers and the gossip magazines, the internet websites, facebook statuses and twitter tweets on how the world thought Tony Stark was. He was their genius hero who loved parties and all that crap, and of course he was a warm-hearted, philanthropic person who'd rather die himself than let a child get hurt. But nobody knew him the way Pepper knew him. Daddy-issues and an in-born terror of being alone, Tony had once called it, jokingly, and Pepper had been aware that it hadn't been a joke but that everything Tony mentioned in jokes was bitter and serious truth. But there was more, too. His fear of disappointing the world, his fear of not being able to save his friends. His fear of being left alone, by everyone, his fear of losing her – Pepper knew all of these things quite well, and she hated them. Had she been able to shoulder even only a bit of his load she would have done so gladly. As it was, the only thing she was capable of doing was leading his company – and waiting for him to come home whenever he returned.
"Please tell me they taste better than this looks," she said and watched a smile blossom on his face. It wasn't Tony Stark's smile, the smile of the hero behind Iron Man's mask, the devil-may-care grin he gave the world. This was Anthony, Pepper's Tony, and she loved him even more for the fact that he had weaknesses. They made him human. They made him hers.
"It's edible, actually."
Tony kissed her – short, soft, and incredibly careful, they would have to talk about that, she wouldn't break, she'd even survived his latest run-in with an old rival and the subsequent acquaintance with the Extremis virus, after all – and deposited her on one of the bar stools.
"Here, have a try."
Pepper's never had better pancakes before.
"Pepper, what about a farm?"
"A what?"
"A farm. Do you want one? You know, an old house, a shed, some fields. Animals, maybe, you like dogs, don't you? And some sheep."
"Sheep? Wait - what are you talking about?"
"About a farm with animals."
"Why? For you? A farm?"
"Yes. I could build one. For us. Somewhere. What do you think?"
"Anthony Stark, have you gone stark mad?"
"What a nice pun, my love. As a matter of fact, I've always been. Though nowadays, I'm mostly crazy for you."
"Oh, quit it."
"I mean it. I love you."
His heart is written in his eyes, and Pepper can't help but reach out for him with everything she is.