For Better or For Worse
Setting: 2008 Movieverse
Pairing: Tony/Pepper
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: It was the best of times and the worst of times…
It had been both the best day of Pepper Potts's life and the worst.
The day had started off with the usual rush to get some woman out of Tony Stark's bedroom; the Vanity Fair reporter being less than thrilled with being tossed out of the house without even a kiss goodbye. The blonde had actually tried to insist on seeing Stark before leaving.
"I don't understand." She paused on the doorstep, shrugging her shoulders in her freshly-pressed business suit and trying to look intimidating. "I want to see Tony."
"I thought I made it pretty clear the first time." Pepper crossed her arms in front of her with a forced smile on her face. "Mr. Stark is currently preparing for a trip to Afghanistan and is unavailable. I'll give him your regards, however."
"Hmph." The woman stared at the open door of the car, the driver patiently waiting beside it. "I don't like to be rushed off like last night's garbage."
Pepper couldn't help herself. "Or this morning's newspaper." Reaching into the passenger seat of the car she plucked the daily edition out, tossing it into the back seat. "Fetch."
The reporter's eyes went wide, and then she slid into the car with exaggerated dignity.
"Goodbye." The redhead had waved one hand as the car moved down the driveway and out of sight. Spinning on one heel she moved onto her next target: Tony Stark himself.
Which had been, as usual, a major trial that consisted of literally tossing the man out of his own workshop. And ordering Happy to not let him take any side trips on the way to the airport even if he insisted on driving himself and letting Happy deal with the luggage.
Then she had been on her own, blissfully on her own for the first time in days. And it was her birthday and Tony Stark was on a plane headed out of the country and she didn't need to worry about women or the press or worrying what she was going to have to hide from who or what.
Obadiah had actually called her fifteen minutes after the plane had lifted off and she had confirmation from Happy. "Did the little prick make the flight?"
She winced inwardly. "Yes, they just took off. The pilot reports that they'll pick up time over the water so they shouldn't be too late for the demonstration."
"He better not be." The balding man growled. "I spent a lot of time and money making this work. And I don't need Tony pulling one of his 'visits' to the local party spot and ruining it." The cigar rolled around between his lips. "It's your birthday, isn't it?"
"Why, yes it is." The redhead smiled as she strolled back through the now-empty house. "Thank you for remembering."
"Take the rest of the day off." His thick meaty hand had waved her away from the phone screen. "Go enjoy yourself. You do good work, Pepper Potts."
"Thank you." She closed the connection, unable to shake the annoying tingling at the back of her neck as if she'd forgotten something important.
A quick scan of her Blackberry showed nothing on the schedule for the rest of the day. Still, she walked back through the workshop one last time.
"Everything all locked down, Jarvis?" She paused on the steps.
"Affirmative." The voice sounded bored. "I shall go on standby until Mr. Stark returns."
"Good idea. I'll be working at my office tomorrow so don't wait up. Tony should be back tomorrow afternoon or evening…" She sighed. "That is, if he doesn't stop off on the trip home. If he does…"
"I shall contact you if he brings back another 'companion'." Jarvis replied.
"Thank you. Good day, Jarvis."
"Good day Ms Potts. And happy birthday."
It had been just after noon when she arrived back at her own apartment, tossing the Blackberry onto the kitchen counter as she stripped down and headed for the bathtub. There was at least a twenty-four-hour period during which she could not worry about Stark Industries or Tony Stark and she was going to take as much advantage of it as she could. And she had a date with a very hot bath, a decadent evening of pizza and cold beer and as many chick flicks as she could squeeze in before falling asleep.
The phone call came the next morning as the redhead nibbled on her third croissant, sprawled out on her couch with a tape of the last month's soap operas now rolling in her VCR.
"Pepper?" James Rhodes sounded as if he had just ran a marathon; wheezing as he coughed into the receiver.
"Are you okay?" She stared at the image on the phone. There was no picture, just the annoying Air Force seal on the small screen. "What's Tony gotten himself into now?"
"I… we…" Something came across the wires that sounded like a soft cry. "I lost him, Pep. I lost Tony."
The cell phone fell from her numb fingers, bouncing along the hardwood floor before coming to rest.
The next hour she spent consoling Rhodes; the next six hours after that trying to cope with the deluge of interview requests, media rumors and the next two hours after that in a conference call with three members of the Stark Industries board of directors demanding to know if she had any idea of how much danger Tony had put himself in and hinting darkly that she had some responsibility in it.
The next three months she spent consoling Rhodes and fighting with the Air Force who wanted to cut back on the resources dedicated to finding her boss, fighting back the reporters who were on a death watch waiting for Tony Stark to be declared dead and fighting with the Stark Industries board of directors who were suggesting that they appoint Obadiah to Tony's spot and move on with the business of making and selling weapons. As Tony would have wanted, they said.
At the end of the first month Obadiah offered her a transfer within the organization.
"Hey, I'm sure Tony'll be back. But while you wait, why not help the rest of us out?" He rolls the cigar around in his mouth again and she declines politely, but firmly. Technically she's on her rarely-used vacation time since it makes HR happy. Still, she goes out to the house every day to talk to Jarvis and read the reports he's compiled on the area that Stark disappeared in and make sure that no one from Stark Industries has started looting his workshop or hanging around the gates; hoping for a chance to sneak inside and start snapping pictures. The media requests are slowing to a trickle, more and more stations dropping the story from their hot list for more current events. The reporter from Vanity Fair does a major ten page article about Tony concentrating on his good points and ignoring the bad. It's a great tribute and Obadiah says so.
At the end of the second month she's getting job offers from outside of Stark Industries.
"We'd be thrilled to have someone with your expertise working for us." The blond man writes a number on a piece of paper and pushes it across the table to her. He's worked with SI for years; his own company no small mover and shaker in the business world. Pepper turns him down with a smile and a polite nod which he accepts graciously. Others are less than kind, whispering in corners and around water coolers that her belief that Tony Stark is alive may not be a healthy aspect of her personality.
At the end of the third month the job offers cease.
She's long past her vacation pay and knows that Obadiah is only keeping her on salary so that he can seduce her to work for him or some other executive in SI. Jarvis has kept an eye on the legal filings and is instructed to inform her immediately if anyone attempts to declare Tony Stark legally dead. Technically only Obadiah could file such a request but that hasn't stopped more than a few women to start claiming they're either carrying or has borne Tony Stark's secret love child and is a legal heir to the Stark fortune.
Rhodes hasn't come back after that first horrible call. He phones her daily with the special satellite phone she had Jarvis send out, encrypted and routed through Stark Industries satellites so that he can talk freely without worrying about his career. The Colonel swears and curses through every false sighting and tip even though they have managed to do a great deal of damage to terrorist hideouts in the area. And now he warns Pepper that the Air Force has had about enough of Tony Stark – they loved him and his weapons but the weapons are still around and Tony Stark is not. And Obadiah has no problem fulfilling their requests for Jericho missiles.
The woman walks around the empty house. The maids have been in weekly, as per their usual schedule, but as of late there hasn't been much for them to do. The workshop is quiet with the classic cars sitting and waiting patiently for someone to visit them. Dummy whirls around with dust rag in hand for a few minutes then returns to his corner with a sad beep and shuts down.
Suddenly the phone rings. Jarvis answers first, being instructed to deal with the media and crank callers who somehow feel that it's fun to call in bogus tips or rumors.
"Ms Potts…" She is in the kitchen making a cup of coffee; pouring the hot water over the dark instant crystals. "It's Colonel Rhodes."
"Why isn't he on the other line?" Pepper mumbles as she takes a sip. "Put him on the speakers."
"Pep…" The yelp bounces off the walls. "We found him! We found him!" The words dissolve into weeping as the voice fades away.
The mug falls to the floor, shattering across the white linoleum.
"Pepper?" The breath catches in her throat as she hears the familiar voice; her pulse racing. "Pepper? You there?" The voice rises and falls. "Is this piece of crap mine?"
"Tony?" The redhead doesn't move, afraid that somehow she'll break the contact. "Tony? Where are you?"
"Digging sand out of places I didn't know sand could get." He dryly responds. "Listen, Rhodey here says our plane takes off in about three minutes. I'll be stopping in Germany to transfer to another plane."
"Do you want me to send out the jet?" Pepper exhales, staring at the ceiling.
"No, it won't make it here in time. And the Air Force wants to rack up as many bonus points as they can saving my sorry ass." The chuckle sends a shiver down her spine. "He's calling Obi right now but I wanted to call you and tell you to be at the airport with Happy." A burst of static fills the air. "You didn't fire him, did you?"
"No." She's caught between crying and laughing and yelling. "We'll be there."
"Good." He pauses, letting the static take over again. "You better not have gotten into the good Scotch. I'm dying for a drink."
She puts her hand over her mouth, afraid to answer him. Drawing a deep breath the redhead smiles as she reaches down to pick up the remains of the shattered mug. "Don't worry about it. Just come home."
The line goes dead.
Jarvis is the first to speak. "Shall I begin to activate the facilities Ms Potts?"
"Yes." She can hear the whirl of the air-conditioning units kicking on; various computer terminals and machines that had slept for three months rushing back to life with an enthusiasm that surprised her. "And call Happy. Tell him to bring the car around."
"As you wish." Just A Really Very Intelligent System has an odd tone in his voice, as if he had something caught in his electronic throat. "It will be good to have Mr. Stark back."
"I agree." Pepper hiccups as she begins to type frantically on her Blackberry, the spilt coffee now covered with a paper towel and forgotten.
She waits outside the house for Happy a few hours later, wearing a business suit she hasn't worn for almost three months and with enough tissues stuffed in her sleeves and pockets to move her up a cup size. In the back of her mind she remembers the women and the parties and the mornings after and the inane requests along with the constant babysitting that had almost driven her to drink. And she realizes that she did, in fact, miss it.
The car pulls up, the driver almost leaping out to open the door for her with a smile that nearly splits his face in two. She gets inside with a matching grin and sits back on the cool leather as the car leaps forward, disobeying more than one speed limit as it races for the airport.
They're early. Happy turns the engine off and steps out of the car, shading his eyes from the sun as he stared at the sky.
She can't stop crying.
"There it is!" The hoarse yell reaches her in the back seat where she's been trying to compose herself for the past ten minutes; tucking damp tissue between the cushions because there's no room left for anything else.
Pepper Potts steps out of the car as the Air Force C-130 comes to a stop only a few feet away from them. She dabs at her nose one last time with her sleeve as the ramp begins to come down and the ambulance crew moves in a bit closer; eager to leap on their potential patient.
"For better or for worse." The redhead mumbles just before the metal ramp hits the concrete with a clang, revealing the darkness out of which Tony Stark stumbles; supported by James Rhodes. She exhales slowly as he rises out of the wheelchair and starts down the slope towards her. "For better or for worse."