A Serious Conversation
The characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and/or whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man and not to me, even in my wildest dreams. No infringement is intended in any way, and this story is not for profit.
Yinsen looked thoughtfully over at Tony as he lay sleeping fitfully. Tony was tossing and turning, obviously in the throws of a nightmare. Yinsen was about to try to wake him when Tony suddenly stilled, a small smile drifting over his sleeping face. Yinsen could count on one hand the times he had actually seen Tony smile in the two months since his capture, so his curiosity was somewhat peeked as to content of his dream. So Yinsen continued watching him trying to figure out exactly what was making him smile.
Suddenly the silence in the cave was broken by Tony speaking a single word 'pepper'.
Yinsen was caught off guard by this word. He couldn't understand why Tony would be dreaming about a spice. But then the unconscious mind was very hard to understand especially when it came to the random content of dreams.
Yinsen dreamed of his family every time he slept. Not about how they died, but about how they had lived. He missed his family so much while he was awake, and somehow his dreams struck a balance with the agony that was now his waking life. He remembered the conversation that he and Tony had several days ago when Tony admitted that he had no family. Yinsen wondered how it had come to pass that the Great Tony Stark had no one close to him. It would seem that the party lifestyle that Tony led had left no room in it for love. Yinsen thought just how miserable it must be to be stuck in this cave, nearly at life's end with no memories or dreams of family or loved ones to comfort Tony.
Several more days passed by in a haze of work and sweat. On the night of the third day Yinsen heard noise coming from the cot and turned to see Tony caught once more in the grasp of a dream. Once again he saw a smile wash over Tony's face. And once again one spoken word: 'pepper'. Yinsen again was curious. Maybe 'pepper' was a code name for a project. Yinsen decided then to ask Tony about it later.
The next day as they sat down to eat in silence; Yinsen looked at Tony to gauge his mood. Tony's eyebrows moved up on his face as if curious about Yinsen's quizzical expression.
"Stark" Yinsen started "Answer me this: why do you keep dreaming about spices?"
"Spices?" Tony blinked in surprise, then curiously asked. "Why do you think I'm dreaming about spices?"
"Because several times while you slept, you have mentioned the word 'pepper'." Yinsen replied locking eyes with Tony in order to better judge his reaction. "You are always smiling too when you mention this word. Is this a code word or project name, maybe?"
Yinsen was surprised as an actual conscious smile crossed Tony's face at his question. He had expected anger or denial from Tony, but certainly not happiness.
"She's my personal assistant. Pepper is actually her nickname." Tony answered, his smile quickly fading, being replaced with a series of other, more raw emotions.
Yinsen was sure that he saw more than just sadness in Tony's face. He definitely could see longing, and perhaps even another emotion: possibly love? Tony's face quickly settled once more into its stoic mask. It was obvious that Tony didn't want him to know about his personal assistant being more than just an employee to him, but it was now clearly evident to Yinsen that she was.
Yinsen thought back to his first medical practice, more specifically to his first nurse. She was intelligent, kind, strong and strong willed, and had a great sense of humor. And she was beautiful.
"A story for you Stark." Yinsen started setting down his spoon and regarding Tony warmly. "When I graduated from medical school I opened a small practice. It was so small, that the entire practice consisted of myself and one nurse. But this nurse was special. I hired her on impulse after she brought a neighbor's child to me after the child was injured in an accident. She was a hard worker, compassionate, very intelligent, and very beautiful. All of my patients loved her. And I realized after about a month of working with her every day that I had fallen in love with her too. I felt that there was a special bond between us that could only be felt, not explained. I didn't know if she felt the same way about me, so I kept waiting for a sign from her that would let me know if I even had a chance with her. The weeks dragged on with no sign from her at all. These weeks turned into months, and then a year. I had even started dreaming about her and me being together. But no matter what I said to her, she was always so professional around me. But I began to notice that her work slowly started to include more personal touches to it. She would straighten my office up, bring me lunch, you know the kinds of things that normally a wife would do, not an employee. Finally one day, I worked up enough courage to invite her to dinner to have, what I called, a 'serious conversation' with her. She was a little apprehensive about the 'serious' part, but she agreed to have dinner with me anyway."
Yinsen stopped talking briefly in order to gauge Tony's reaction to his story so far. Tony was staring at him intently and Yinsen took this as a sign to continue. "But of course during the dinner, instead of confessing my true feelings for her, I, how you Americans say, 'chickened out' and proceeded to cover up my cowardice by offering her a raise in salary. She politely told me that I paid her enough already, but that having dinner with me and seeing me outside of the office was nice. I could take a hint Stark. What she said was enough for me to understand that maybe she was open to my personal advances away from work, and I proceeded to woo her outside of the office. We were married in less than two months."
Yinsen studied Tony's face looking for a sign of understanding from him. Silence lingered between them for a few seconds.
"Let me guess" Tony started, no emotion showing on his face "You lived happily ever after."
Yinsen could sense the hurt buried in his words. "No, not happily ever after, Stark." Yinsen began "We worked hard to make our marriage work. It was not easy being a doctor in a small town. Our clients were not well off, and my wife and I struggled to make our medical practice successful. But we stuck it out. I was blessed with three children and the love of the woman of my dreams."
Tony grunted in response, and went back to eating, looking away from Yinsen. After a few seconds, Yinsen picked up his spoon again and they continued eating their meager meal of rice and beans in silence.
Since they took turns sleeping on what would barely pass as a military cot, Yinsen had more nights to observe Tony while he slept, wondering if he would verbalize any more during his dreams. A week of silent dreams passed. Yinsen started to believe that maybe he had pushed Tony too far with the story about his wife. Tony's waking hours were even more silent now except where conversation between them was absolutely necessary.
Several more days passed and they were once again sitting together in silence for another meal.
"Do you dream about your family, Yinsen?" Tony asked quietly looking up from his bowl to meet Yinsen's eyes across the small table.
"Yes." Yinsen replied truthfully "Every time I sleep. My dreams are the only comfort that I have left to me it seems."
Tony nodded at the man and looked thoughtfully at his bowl. "I lied to you when I told you I didn't have anyone." Tony confessed letting some of the tension flow from his body as he looked up to meet Yinsen's eyes. It suddenly felt right to speak about such matters to Yinsen. "My assistant, Pepper and I are pretty close, best friends as a matter of fact."
Yinsen nodded, remaining silent but interested in Tony's words.
"I miss her." He simply stated.
"I miss my family, too, Stark." Yinsen replied with a sigh.
Both men exchanged knowing looks, but did not speak again, returning to their meal instead.
Another week passed and time was starting to grow short. The Ten Rings leader made visits to them more frequently. It was becoming harder and harder to disguise the components of the iron suit from them. Tony rarely slept any more as he worked tirelessly on the construction of the suit even to the point of refusing to stop to eat at times. Yinsen finally convinced him to sit down for a few minutes to rest and eat.
"Stark" Yinsen said softly "You can't keep this pace up. Rest for a few minutes. Eat this." He pointed to a bowl of food on the table that he had fixed for him.
Yinsen looked at Tony as he sat down across the table from him. Tony just stared blankly ahead of him, lost in thought and oblivious to the food. "She's beautiful, you know. Smart too…..kind and funny….. God, I miss her laughter." Tony quietly said as he closed his eyes, his face relaxing. "Sometimes I swear I hear her voice calling my name across the distance. Sometimes I even think I see her here in the cave. It's so real. I want to see her again, Yinsen. I want to ask her to forgive me for being such a bastard to her all these years. I want…" he voiced trailed off as he slowly laid his head down on the table and immediately went to sleep, unable to keep his exhaustion at bay any more.
Yinsen looked at him and smiled sadly knowing to whom Stark was referring. In working with Tony these past months he had actually grown quite fond of him as a person, as well as admired him for his genius with all things engineering. He silently said a prayer for Tony and asked that Tony be allowed to return safely home to his Pepper. Yinsen knew that his own homecoming was not to be earthbound, as he also prayed for his own deliverance to his family.
Tony slept for six hours with his head buried in his arms on the table. Yinsen tried not to disturb him because he knew that Tony needed the rest. Yinsen noticed movement at the table and turned to see Tony stand up and stretch his neck.
"How long did I sleep?" he asked turning to Yinsen.
"Six hours or so." Yinsen replied "You needed it Stark. We are getting close to completion of our project here and you need to be somewhat fresh to complete our work and carry out our plans."
Tony moved over next to Yinsen and started working immediately. After a few minutes, Yinsen looked over at him unable to contain his thoughts anymore.
"Stark" he started turning to face him fully "Do you believe in the concept of 'soul mates'?"
Tony shook his head. "I've never thought about it before."
"I have the feeling that Pepper is your soul mate. Just as my wife is my soul mate. When you return home to your Pepper, promise me that you will tell her how you feel about her. Do as I did, and have a serious conversation with her. If she is as kind and compassionate as my beloved, she will forgive you for everything that you've done. Just show her the man you really are, Stark…a good man. Then let go of everything else in this world except her. Only by doing that will you find inner peace and happiness."
Tony looked thoughtfully at Yinsen as he spoke to him. A small smile crossed his face briefly as he contemplated the advice. "A serious conversation, huh?" Tony repeated.
"Yes, my friend." Yinsen replied a smile lighting up his face "A serious conversation!"
"I promise I will." Tony replied holding out his hand to Yinsen. "Thank you."
The men shook hands briefly and then threw themselves back into their work.
Tony Stark stood with James Rhodes and Senator Stern as the press took photos of them after he and Rhody were awarded medals for bravery in defeating Vanko. Tony smiled for the cameras, but behind his sunglasses he was steadily searching the large crowd for one tall red head. He spotted her near the back of the crowd, Happy standing next to her doing his best G Man imitation. Tony's smile widened. He became dimly aware of Senator Stern talking to he and Rhody about a 'serious conversation' that needed to happen between Iron Man and the Feds. This phrase triggered a sudden tidal wave of memories of conversations with Yinsen. He remembered the promise that he had made to Yinsen regarding Pepper. The past 5 months since his return from that cave in Afghanistan had been incredibly chaotic, and between the palladium poisoning and Ivan Vanko, the promise that he made to Yinsen had been put on temporary hold. That was about to change. It looked like there might be a lull in Iron Man action for at least the near future, and Tony intended to use this free time wisely. He smiled weakly at Stern, shook Rhody's hand goodbye, and slowly made his way through the crowd of reporters and well wishers, shaking hands and exchanging superficial pleasantries. He emerged from the crowd to see Pepper looking at him with amusement as he unfastened the medal from his lapel.
Without saying a word he tenderly pinned the medal to the collar of her business suit. "You deserve this a lot more than I do." He stated simply.
She locked eyes with him, and he could see her mind trying to figure out what he was up to. He smiled brightly at her, reaching out to take both her hands in his. "Ms. Potts, would you do me the honor and join me for dinner this evening? You and I need to have a serious conversation."
"Why certainly, Mr. Stark." She replied smiling at him in return, her eyes curious. "How serious is this 'serious' conversation going to be?"
"Very serious, Ms. Potts." He answered letting go of her hands as they both turned and walked towards the car, Happy leading the way. Suddenly he wrapped one arm around her waist and gathered her into his side lovingly. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Very serious."