"Tony, I'm pregnant."
The words hit him like a boulder. Just hours ago, he had told Steve Rogers that Pepper being pregnant wasn't even a possibility.
Definitely not, he'd said.
"Tony?" Pepper's voice cracked. "Tony, please; say something. I need you to talk to me."
"That's, uh- that's great, Pepper." He started to shake, an oncoming anxiety attack forcing his breaths out heavily.
"Don't lie to me. I know how much you feared this, but I actually- I want to keep it."
"You're sure it's mine?"
"Tony, don't be like that. You know just as well as I do that you're the father."
Tony's body slid down the wall he was leaning on, his knees meeting his chest and his free hand meeting the floor softly.
"I want you to be involved in this baby's life. She's gonna need you."
His eyebrows shot up. "She? You already know?"
A soft, sad-sounding laugh came from the other side of the line. "No. It's just a feeling, really."
"Got it. Uh, can-can we talk about this later? I've gotta-" A wave of panic cut him short and he let out a muffled groan.
"Is everything okay?"
Tony tapped end call so he wouldn't have to answer her question untruthfully.
"FRIDAY," he said, calling out to his new AI system, "send Dummy over to get that vial on my desk."
"Right away, Mister Stark."
A robotic arm, balancing a dunce cap on its top, rolled into the living room and held out a vial containing a clear liquid, foaming and bubbly from being shaken in its transport from desk to human.
Tony unscrewed the metallic lid and threw the liquid into his constricting throat. Immediately the elixir provided him relief, and his systems calmed down.
"FRIDAY, run systems scan."
He felt the tiny chip in his arm grow slightly warmer as FRIDAY ran the requested scan.
"It seems as though you have experienced incapacitating neurological happenings, disturbed nerve transmissions, and a double attack consisting of both panic and anxiety."
He groaned in frustration. "I'm going to die young, I swear."
"Actually, Sir, the medication you use for relief is known to prolong your life."
His head snapped up. "How is that possible when I'm the one who put this shit together? I haven't done research on it."
"Miss Potts ran secretive researches on it."
"Without telling me the results?"
"I did say secretive, Sir," came FRIDAY's snarky reply.
Tony rolled his eyes and shifted to where his legs lay straight in front of his body. "How do you know about them?"
"Miss Potts instructed me to inform you of the results if it was ever necessary."
"Let me see." Tony brought out a cellphone from his back pocket and shook it back and forth once.
FRIDAY projected, from the phone's screen, a blue image which showed photos and data from Pepper's research.
He read through the information quickly, understanding most of what he read.
"Good enough."
FRIDAY forced the projection to shut down and Tony placed the phone back in his pocket.
"I recommend you recover from your episode quickly, Mister Stark."
"Why's that?" He asked dully, rubbing his face tiredly.
"You have a visitor fast approaching your doorstep."
"Who is it?"
Tony scrambled to get up and make himself look presentable.
"Your trusted advisor, Mister Harold Hogan, whom you often refer to as 'Happy.'"
The doorbell rang.
"Let him in, FRIDAY."
"Right away, Sir."
"Tony?" Happy asked, entering through and shutting the door. "Are you all right?"
Tony met Happy at the top of the staircase leading to the garage.
"I'm fine." Tony offered his friend a forced smile. "What are you doing here?"
"Pepper sent me." Happy looked the former CEO of Stark Industries over, not believing that he was okay. "She said you hung up abruptly. Tony, you and I both know that doesn't happen on a regular basis. What's going on? And why didn't she come over here herself?"
"Nothing's going on. And she's the CEO of a company, she usually can't just leave work." He grinned cheekily. "She never came home when I asked her to have-"
Happy shook his hands frantically. "Okay, okay, I get it." He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the picture conjured up by the words Tony didn't have to say. "But why didn't she come here herself? Are you two okay?"
Tony sighed and put one hand on his hip and the other one on his forehead. "We're taking a break."
Happy's expression immediately dropped. "Oh, man, sorry. I didn't-"
"It's fine. It's good."
"Wait- she said you hung up on her- like, this morning. That means she must've called you because you're usually too prideful to-"
Tony glared at Happy.
"Look, all I'm trying to say is that something's going on and I want in, Tony!"
"It's none of your damn business," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down.
"Tony. I've been your best friend since, what, the eighties? I need to know what's going on so I can help you."
"Pepper's pregnant."
"Now, I know you don't like being helped, but- wait, what?"
"I'm gonna be a father. She wants to keep it. Goddamn it!" Tony threw his cellphone into the living room, causing a vase to clatter noisily to the floor before shattering, red-tinted glass shards skittering everywhere.
Tony sank to the floor once more, covering his red, teary eyes with a shaking hand.
"Tony, we can get through this. It'll be fine. I assume she wants you to be there for this kid, right? You just have to be strong."