A/N
Sorry for such the long wait everybody. I've been having personal issues. General unhappiness mostly. I've been trying to write, I know what I want to do with this, I am just having a hard time articulating this. Mostly I've just been typing, and then erasing everything. I can't decide on how exactly I want to do this so I might take a while between uploads, but I promise I'm working on it.
I know most of you must hate me for how I left things off, I understand, and I apologize. I won't keep you waiting, so, without further ado, here is How the Heart Heals. If you have not read Proof Tony Stark Has a Heart or What Happened to Tony's Heart, I suggest reading those first.
Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man or any Marvel things. If it is Marvel, it isn't mine.
12:30
"Pepper," Tony finally croaks, his throat sore from his sobbing. He never expected to be in this sort of position with Pepper. She hadn't been around when he lost his parents. This wasn't the same feeling of course, but it is a similar experience. He didn't have anyone to lean on then. It feels good to be able to rely on Pepper. "How can I ever get rid of this feeling?"
"You move on, eventually," Pepper says, her eyes are bright red, tears are streaking down her cheeks, but she looks strong. She doesn't look like she is going to break at any time soon. "It helps if you talk about it," She added, giving him a meaningful look.
Tony nods, wondering where to begin. He never expected a kid to affect his life so much. She's effecting it so much more now. How can someone who has only been in your life for a few months manage to change everything?
Later, In a Different Location
I'm not sure if it is the pain that woke me up, or if it was simply there when consciousness came. My eyes had opened before I realized I was awake. I lay in the destruction that I have inadvertently caused, trying to gain an understanding of what happened before I passed out. It hits me all at once. I feel the fear creeping in my throat, along with the sense of guilt. Shaking my stiff neck, I try to shake myself out of it. Get to somewhere safe first, and then you can beat yourself up over it. Blinking, I realize that I can see, but it is just too dark for me to see anything. My view is blocked by debris that had fallen on me, and even still I think it is night time. How long was I out? Every breath hurts. It seems my armor couldn't protect me from everything I had endured. I must have at least broken a rib or two, they hurt enough. Definitely don't have a collapsed lung, I would surely be able to tell that much. I tried to move my right arm so I could try shifting the metal sheet above me, but there is a grinding sensation in my shoulder, and pain shot down my entire arm. Gasping in pain, I decide not to try that again. I don't think I have ever woken up in so much pain before in my life. Instead of using my right, I tentatively lift my left arm, smiling when I realize that, although it hurts, it doesn't hurt so badly where I cannot move it at all. I must have broken something in my right arm. Some parts of my face are sticky with what I suspect is blood. Otherwise I feel pretty good for being buried in god knows how much debris.
Honestly I am lucky. If the metal had fallen any other way I could have been impaled, or worse. I used my left arm to push the thin sheet of metal off of me. Surprisingly it moves easily. There must be less damage than I thought. I coughed hard, dust flew from my mouth. I guess I inhaled a lot of it when I was out. I am nervous about leaving. What if people died? Well, I don't think anyone could have not died in this destruction, but what if someone I know died? What if the fighting is still going on? I can worry later, I decide. The first thing I need to do is find somewhere safe to go. Someone to help me would be great too, but safety first.
I pushed the sheet harder, finding a spot to lean it against so I have a small space that I can crawl out of. Taking care not to bump my right shoulder much, I squeezed through, gritting my teeth in pain. I stumbled when I manages to crawl out of the remaining wreckage. Coughing again, I realized how thirsty I am. Even though I am still in a lot of pain because of the accumulative injuries that I have, I managed to take off, flying in the direction of the one safe spot I know. Sighing, I turned in mid air, towards Stark Tower.
My thoughts begin to wander as I fly through the air. I swerve and dodge around buildings, but my mind can only go to what happened presumably hours before. I can't help but feel guilty when I see all of the damage and destruction done to the city. It's not usually like me to feel guilty about this sort of stuff, but somehow this time I just do. You would think I am used to this by now, but I guess no one really gets used to something like this. I try not to think about the inevitable death toll from what had happened and how I might have been able to prevent them had I just been a bit quicker and a bit smarter.
I try not to look down anymore, but the sounds of police sirens, the flashing lights, the smell of smoke makes it hard to push back in my mind. Sighing, I land on a building so I can take a break. The action of flying isn't what is making me exhausted. Scenes of the fight flash around me. I swallow thickly. I can't not here. Pushing my back against the wall, I sigh loudly.
"Hey, I know you, you're Iro-"
"Shhhhhh, kid. I know who I am," I say annoyed at my sheer luck of having a kid on the one building I decided to land on.
"The tv said you were dead."
I turn to look at the kid. He's short, about waist height. Probably about five years old. He has dark messy hair, and bright blue eyes that almost seem to glow in the dark. Best part, he's got Captain America pajamas on. I want to say something about them, but I decided against it. "Do I look dead, kid?" I ask. Normally I'd be much nicer, but I'm in so much pain I can't help but get annoyed quickly. They think I'm dead? That could be problematic.
"No," He says quite bravely. He moves closer to inspect my armor, probably make sure I am the real deal. "You're okay, right?"
"Course I am, kid. What's your name?" I ask, trying to take my mind off of everything. Calm me down before I go home.
"Jason," He tells me confidently. He sits down next to me, though not close enough to touch me.
"Well, Jason, why are you up here all alone? It's probably much warmer in there," I inform him, pointing at the door with my left hand, that he left ajar when he came up here.
Jason shrugs. It's a very kiddy shrug, the one where he moves his whole body. "I like it up here, I'm closer to Mommy and Daddy," He says as an afterthought.
My stomach turns. His parents are dead. We have that in common, I hope we don't have much else in common for his sake. "They up there?" I ask, pointing at the sky. He nods. "You know, I've never been able to fly high enough to see for sure, but I hear that the people up there are always looking down," he seems to brighten up at this, but not by much. "Who are you living with now?"
"Aunty and Uncle Henry," He states immediately. He looks much happier already. "Yeah, they are really nice! They take me to the park and they play games!"He exclaims.
I smile even though he can't see it. I rise unceremoniously to my feet, groaning at how badly it hurts. I need to go. I can't sit here any longer. "Jason, your parents love you very much. Can you please go inside, you're going to catch phenomena."
Jason smiles up at me, running back to the door. "Bye Iro-"
"Hush up, kid!" I exclaim back.
Stopping was not a good idea. Good idea to clear my head, bad idea for my body. My head is spinning, and I just hope I don't pass out again. I need to get to the tower. If I don't… well, I'd much rather not fall out of the air. Doesn't help I didn't get the quiet time to release my thoughts. Not that I minded the kid much.
I just hope my reactor doesn't run out before I get to the tower, there is no way I would make it there otherwise.
Trying to take my mind off of what I can't control, my mind moves to something else, or, more specifically, someone else. Pepper. Oh god. Please let Pepper be at the tower. I won't be able to live with myself if something happened to her. When was the last time I saw her? I can't remember, it must have been at the tower. Please, for the love of god, let her be okay. The others have means of protecting themselves. Pepper is just… Pepper. She doesn't have powers and she surely doesn't have a suit unless she managed to grab one, which is highly unlikely to impossible. Please let her be at the tower. I can't lose her.
It is late. I know it is late, so why are the lights on at Stark Tower? Are they waiting for me? Maybe, after all, it was pretty weird, what happened I mean. Still, I didn't expect them to be waiting for me like this, if anything I thought they might have been on the streets looking for me, though I like this much better. It may still be dangerous on the streets.
I land on the heli-pad of Stark Tower, limping in as my suit disappears around me. I walk through the open doors, finding something I hadn't ever expected to see.
Pepper is sitting at the bar, with Dad hunched over her, hugging her tightly. His head is in her shoulder, and Pepper's arms are wrapped around Dad almost protectively while Dad sagged into her arms. Their backs are to me. I stand by the door nervously, it looks like Dad is actually in physical pain. Do I hear crying? What is going on? Pepper has her head leaned against Dad's and I'm pretty sure her arms are moving in circles, yep. She's rubbing his back. Has something changed between them? It certainly looks like it, but it looks like Pepper is trying to console Dad more than anything.
What did the kid say? He said the news is saying I'm dead. They can't believe that, can they?
A/N
Heeeeeeeyo look who is alive. I tried to keep this as confusing as possible for you guys. Sorry, it's just too fun. So, yeah.
Please leave all comments, suggestions, criticisms and so on in the reviews. I love reading all of them.
I'm trying to get better and to get re-motivated, so hopefully I'll do better with writing this. I'm just not really in the happiest of places right now, but I will try to get in one for you guys.
Until next time.