Alright folks, I've been through Oklahoma a few times- and if I got it wrong, feel free to correct me on that. I lived in North East Texas for a long time- and Louisiana before it so I know what I was getting into myself there.
This is a Sister story to Lucid Storm, which you can find on my Profile page if you're curious as to why she keeps mentioning Tony being here once. It might make this make sense more to you; and you'll understand why she he mentioned it at all to her.
Don't own the Avengers, clearly.
P.S.: I know there are spelling errors, I know there are- and missteps in word usages but I cleaned it up as best as I could. My Beta is currently unavailable- so sorry about that! Enjoy. Tell me what you think, please? I want to know if I got my point across. :3
Pepper gazed off into the distance, awed that she even thought to come here of all places. Tony mentioned it once, that he had been here but she found that desperately hard to believe because of how isolated the plains of Oklahoma were, as they rolled into Texas and turned into a humid mess of trees and wild life.
Pepper traveled a lot, so flying in a plane wasn't new to her; she saw many beautiful places all over the world with Tony while working for him. She planned many trips and participated in many events but this place was a place she couldn't quite remember going before. No one in New York City to her knowledge thinks about what it would be like to live in the middle of nowhere, no one really thought to visit here- not anyone she knew anyways. (She knew a lot of people too, was it because they were rich in some way? Famous somehow that they never said anything? The conversation never came up?)
She was looking for what Tony said when he mentioned it, because if it could move the great Tony Stark enough for him to remember it- it was worth looking into.
She packed a suitcase, and dressed normal, normal being jeans and a tee shirt and sun glasses on her face. Nothing fancy because the way the placed sounded she would stick out too much which she realized as she started to drive around back roads and got lost (Hours, she remember, hours it took her to find this place) She would have indeed.
The car she rented was normal enough, it was white and clean and the woman that helped her rent the car was so kind to her in that small airport. Directions, she decided at one point during her drive to find this place, she needed to get and pulled off the road next to a vender on the side of the road selling watermelon and plants.
He had his own fancy kind of accent and Pepper couldn't help the smile on her face when she talked to him. "Down the road, about four miles ma'am, you'll see the town. It ain't all cleaned up after that Tornado, but they're working on it" He said his southern drawl reminding her of western movies. He was also really nice to her, which was something else as she said her thank you, and started to drive again.
This part of Oklahoma was close to Texas, close enough that she figured she could hit the road and drives into the night and find herself in some small town in North east Texas by midnight. There wasn't much for miles as far as trees went, just rolling planes that spoke volumes of the type of weather they had. Pepper decided to make this trip worth it, and when she stopped in the small town, at the hotel that wasn't great but good enough she stood outside admiring the sun, and the small dusty looking streets. The summer this year took its toll on this vast farming land. "Wow" Pepper said taking in the breath of the fresh tasting Oklahoma air exhaling with a smile. There were mountains in this part, she figured, if she drove further south she would have to drive over and around the hills.
They didn't roll, she knew that much, she knew her geography well enough to know they were forested, and when you hit Texas again and drove further south those mountains and hills tapered off into vast forested areas of the slightly more humid swampy air of North east Texas. Pepper made it a point to just walk around for the day, and while it didn't seem like there was a lot, just walking down the length of a highway and gazing at the farms watching tractors when she saw them was so peaceful to her it sent her body into a humming relaxation she had not felt since before she started working for Tony.
"You need a lift?" Someone asked, pulling next to her at one point and she smiled that strange feeling of uncertainty of a stranger gripping her chest. "No thank you, sir" She had said and he nodded waving a hand at her and smiling before pulling back onto the road and taking off.
Getting back to the hotel in the small town was easy.
She called the rental area from the airport she had flown into and asked where in Texas she could drop the car off, getting her answer easily enough before thanking the woman on the phone and making her plans. Pepper took off three weeks; she planned on seeing all these rolling hills, all the mountains and people. The culture of the south she never really thought to experience.
Buying a map, several maps actually, Pepper went to planning her route, a smile on her face the entire time she sat in the hotel room and started to pen her way down them.
When it got dark, Pepper idly wondered what Tony was doing in this far away place. Was he here because he was curious? What brought him here? Why this place out of all? Pepper didn't know really and though the thoughts were something she would address to him later- she would ask of course- right now she wanted to sleep.
She would get up early to check out, and start the drive before the sun was fully up because she wanted to drive and see it rise on the horizon, she wanted to see the colors in the sky as it played across fields of farm land and peeked its hot head over the tops of jagged hill sides. "Oklahoma" Pepper breathed laying herself down to sleep a smile on her face. "Oh, Tony, why Oklahoma?" If she knew the reason maybe this would mean more to her somehow.
She set off as she planned, maps in hand most of the road numbers memorized as she got into the car and started the soon to be long drive. Pepper had time though, and maybe she would get back from her adventure early and she could, she thought with a smile, tell Tony all the wonderful places she went and saw.
The drive was long, and she stopped in towns on the way down to Texas for drinks and food, and gas. She bought a camera while she was at one of the gas stations, explaining to the woman at the counter that she had, honestly, never been in the south before. While the older woman smiled at her looking tired from the long day of work Pepper was sure she put in she told her some things. "When the sun starts to set, if you're in the area, pull off the road at the intersection to the next major free way, you'll see it. There is a look out- It's real pretty" The woman said to her and Pepper curious and excited said thank you before going back to her car.
It was some kind of miracle Pepper even found the look out, the area large and fenced off to prevent people from falling off the cliff side. It was an hour before the sun actually started to color the sky and set, so she cut the engine and parked it to wait. Dialing Tony's number she smiled and held it to her face exhaling a tired breath as her eyes glanced out the window looking at trees she was sure were naturally grown here. "Tony!" She said when he picked up and said hello.
"Pepper, my sweet secretary, when are you coming home?" Tony said to her and she snickered because, it sometimes really seemed like he couldn't survive without her. "Eventually, give me another week and I might just come home early." Pepper teased relaxing into the seat of the car gazing at the railing.
Their conversation was full of jest, and some talk of business. Pepper had to tell Tony-remind him again, really- that he needed to attend the meetings if he wanted the board to take him seriously. While she was away he had to take care of that stuff. Talking to Tony on the phone always made time go by so fast, and she was soon telling him she'd check in again soon as she watched the sun sink down the side of a hill side. Hanging up her phone she threw it into the passenger seat with her bag and some food she'd picked up getting out of the car quickly after finding the disposable camera she purchased.
The gas station worker was right, the sun set was beautiful.
Pepper was smiling, leaning against the railing and letting the cool wind push her hair around in her face as she watched the sun slowly fall to the horizon, sinking down slightly to a relaxed position. Pepper learned over the years to take moments like this seriously, cherish them. She knew that after this was over, the odds of her coming back to this part of the Nation wasn't going to be happening soon again.
When you worked for a living that tended to always ring true, working never really gave you time to yourself.
Texas was truly the land of the big, and the grand. The roads she drove eventually took her to a large freeway which she took and gazed at the massive expanse of trees she was passing taking in the sights of it along with the cars that she drove past.
Pepper had a little bit of a difficult time finding a town at first, but when she managed to, with the use of a East Texas map she found herself glad she did.
Sitting in the local café drinking coffee and eating she met people there. People who asked her where she was from, and talked to her and laughed with her- complete strangers getting along in a café. "Where do you work?" Someone asked her, an older couple who apparently came here every Sunday after church.
"I work at Stark Industries" Pepper said smoothly her smile still on her face as she looked at the plate of food in front of her. Truly this was country food. "Wow, you're definitely a winner than, aren't yah?" He laughed and Pepper snickered a small blush crossing her features. "What brings you down to these parts? Got Family here?" She glanced at the elder man, his wife scolding him for being so nosy.
"No, sir" Pepper said "I'm just sightseeing."
They both watched her carefully before starting to list off places she should go, things she should experience, "Which way are you headed?" The elder man asked after half an hour passed, and the conversation started to die off a little.
"I'm going east, Sir. I'm hoping to make it to Louisiana by tomorrow afternoon" He smiled at her wide then "Stay out of that south Louisiana, young miss." He warned with a cheery disposition, "The shopping is great but the night life gets a little crazy. Young people these days" And my, did Pepper laugh then. His wife bat his arm slightly "Don't tell her that, you go if that's where your headed young lady."
And Pepper felt, for a while, as if she wasn't a stranger with them here.
The trip was worth it, Pepper thought, having bought little knickknacks to remind her of where she traveled on her ways. She made the drive through Louisiana, ate food she never thought she would try- and make way back up into Arkansas, before passing back into Oklahoma towards the airport.
It took her almost two weeks to get through the three states, and while she felt she could have gone farther, gone longer, she knew her time was coming to a close and that the sights she saw were enough.
Sitting in the same hotel she did two weeks ago, preparing to sleep again she relaxed drinking out of a bottle of water.
"You, Tony Stark, are a genius, I needed this" Pepper said to the empty room eyes roaming around the shabby place. It was homey, if a little run down. Pepper was certain Tony was going to overload her with work when she got back, because she talked to him yesterday and he sounded like he wanted to admit to something, but he was saving it for when she actually walked through the doors, ready for work again.
"I'm so glad the weather stayed so nice" Pepper grossed aloud to herself, sure it was hot in Texas, and even more so in Louisiana but it was worth it. Driving through the country side was a long trek, but the sights she saw more than made up for it, and so did the people she ran into.
Pepper could admit though that she missed the city life of New York. She missed the busy people, the wide awake city and the noise.
The memory she made while driving was what soothed her into not regretting a single moment of her time. As she readied for bed clicking off the side lamp and the lights she stretched her arms up, lagging from the car ride, not really looking forward to the drive back to that off the radar airport.
Walking to the window she pushed the blinds aside leaning her legs against the AC until under it staring off into the well lit parking lot then up at the sky she could still see.
The night sky is what she'll miss the most; in New York City seeing the stars was hard because of the lights. It was a clear night out, clouds drifting slowly to close off some parts of the dark, but still bright star filled sky, the moon half full winking its tired gaze down on the plains.
New York State had its own country side, going North West into neighboring states, and she made a mental note to visit out there sometime. She knew it was probably just as pretty and quiet as it was here. "Fly over states, they are the best" Pepper breathed quoting a song she had heard a few days ago on a country music station in the car while driving through Arkansas. Letting the blinds slip closed she turned in the dark room and walked towards the bed, falling onto it with a long sigh. She wanted her bed back, sure, but as she crawled up the mattress and slipped under the cleaned blankets and sheets she couldn't help but thinking this was worth all the discomfort some of the hotels could offer.
I wasn't the best, but it was simple and the simplicity and peace of being just another person, made it all the worth while.