Tony stopped looking at his computer screen to rub his eyes. It was late, and he'd been at it in his shop for 14 hours straight, non-stop. JARVIS had let him know that Pepper had arrived in New York safely, but, true to her word, she hadn't communicated with him directly at all since she'd left.

He'd stayed distracted from thought of their fight since this morning, but now, since he was winding down, the familiar lonely ache was coming back full force. He was just about to tell JARVIS to shut everything down, and trudge upstairs when heard the familiar "bing bong" from his computer, notifying him of a new email.

It was a forwarded message from Pepper. He clicked on it and started to read it.

Pepper,

Can't wait to see you tonight. It's been too long. I bet you are as gorgeous as ever.

Love,

Clayton

Tony scowled. "Clayton?!" he murmured to himself. As in Clayton Thomas?, he thought. It had been a long time since this name had crossed his mind. Clayton Thomas was Pepper's ex-fiance from many years ago, before she'd moved from Kansas. It was his drug habit and infidelity with her sister that had caused their break up, and Pepper to pull up roots and move to California. He picked up his phone and dialed Pepper's number. It went straight to voicemail. "Huh," Tony said. Her phone is permanently attached to her ear at all times. Why isn't she answering?, he thought.
His heart sank as a possibility crept into his brain. "No, she wouldn't," he muttered. "She's not that pissed off at me. She wouldn't." He rubbed his goatee nervously with one hand as he glowered at the email again.

"Love, Clayton," he repeated. He exhaled, and picked up his phone again. After two rings, her heard her voice.

"Hello?"she said loudly, above a loud din.

"Yeah, you wanna tell me about your date with Clayton?!" he asked gruffly.

"What?" she yelled. He could make out loud music in the back ground. Pepper's clubbing? He thought. His mind swirled.

"Clayton!" he yelled. "Are you with him right now?!"

"Tony, I've gotta go. I can't hear you. I'll call you back!"Pepper yelled, and hung up.

Tony heard the call disconnect. He glowered at the phone, and then at the email again. He worked his jaw back and forth, his jealousy and anger boiling in him.

"Dammit, Pepper!" he said, slamming his phone down on his computer desk. His eyes blazed with rage as he thought for a moment, the sharp stab of jealousy ripping through him.

"JARVIS!" he barked suddenly, turning his eyes toward the ceiling. "Prep the suit. I'm headed to New York!"

XxXxXxXxXx

On the way over, Tony had Jarvis track Pepper's location through the GPS in her phone. Much to his dismay, he found she was indeed at a club, the music thumping loudly and crawling with overly made-up women and horny little twenty-something guys in Gucci pants and tight shirts. He'd ditched his suit at the Tower and raced over in his car to find her. But he wasn't about to charge in there. He wanted to wait and see for himself what she was up to. He hoped upon hope that his suspicions were wrong.

He waited across the street for close to an hour before Pepper appeared. He walked briskly to the middle of the street, on-coming traffic honking and swerving around him. He made it to the median, where Pepper and her date were plainly in view. She was on the arm of someone who looked to be the same age as she. He was tall and thin, and had spiky blond hair. She was wearing a very shimmery, very short, tight blue dress. And from what Tony could see, not much else. She was on the man's arm, laughing. They stopped before he opened the door to a cab. Tony winced as he watched her reach up and kiss him on the cheek. She was beaming and so was the man. He motioned her inside the cab and she climbed in with him following after her. The cab sped off down the street and Tony stood there, paralyzed, his heart shattered.

He let his eyes drift to the ground. He gritted his teeth as he yanked his phone out of his pocket and dialed Jarvis.

"Good evening, Sir," the AI said.

"Jarvis, keep tracking Pepper's phone. Well follow the cab she's in."

"Of course, Sir."

Tony ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He knew that he was setting himself up for more heartache, but he couldn't just let her ride off with someone else. He had to get to the bottom of why Pepper, his Pepper, was...

He couldn't even finish the thought. "No. She wouldn't. She can't be," he said to himself.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony had quickly climbed back into the car and followed the cab carrying Pepper. He bolted out into traffic and gunned the engine, his head swimming with the possibilities of what Pepper could be up to. JARVIS led him all the way to a neighborhood in Brooklyn, with the Brownstone houses all in a row. This street was tree-lined and had old world style street lamps lighting the sidewalks and front entrances. Tony backed off and pulled into a spot on the street just down from the doorstep of the house the Pepper's cab had come to. Tony watched in agony as he saw her and Clayton climb out of the cab and begin quickly walking up the stoop, laughing and giggling. Pepper was obviously inebriated, and had fallen into his arms a number of times, letting him hold her close to steady her again. He kissed her softly on the forehead and Pepper smiled widely, her eyes closed.

Clayton wrapped his arm around her waist. She leaned against the door frame as Tony saw him start to fumble with his keys. Tony couldn't take it any more."Get off my girlfriend, fuck face!" Tony yelled, as he cut the engine. He yanked the door to the car open and bolted outside. He ran to the front door of the house. "Pepper!" he shouted, but it was too late. The two of them had disappeared inside, and the door was shut just as he reached the top step. He banged on it loudly with the side of his fist. "Pepper! Open up!" he yelled, but soon realized there was music coming from the inside that was easily drowning him out. It occurred to him that he might be able to kick the door in, but upon surveying it, he realized it was a very heavy oak door with a very heavy deadbolt. He tested the latch to the handle. It was locked. He banged on it again, hopelessly, still to no avail.

He looked around the outside for an open window, but they all had ornate, wrought-iron bars on them. His shoulders hung, dejected, as he sat down heavily on the step. He waited for the music to end for a few minutes so then he could try banging on the door again. But it didn't end. Must be some of that never-ending trance crap that only douche-bags listen to, he thought. He slowly stood and walked back down to the sidewalk, defeated. He looked up at the windows. Above him, in what had to have been a bedroom, he saw shadows of people moving around. "Jesus," he gasped, almost doubling over from the phantom gut punch it gave him to watch. He stared helplessly as the shadows danced around against the window shades. "She's really going to do it. She really is going to sleep with him," he muttered. He shook his head in disbelief, as burning tears filled his eyes. He swiped at them bitterly.

"Fine, Pep," he said. "Have your fun. But I'll be waiting for you when you get home." He slowly walked to the car and heavily lowered himself into the drivers seat, lazily punching the ignition button. He eased the car out into the street and headed back to Stark Tower in defeat.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony sat by the window, killing what must have been his fifth glass of Scotch. But he wasn't even feeling it. His mind burned with the images of what he'd seen. His heart ached, and his bitterness burned in his stomach. He looked at the clock. It was close to 4 am. "This is not appropriate behavior for a CEO, Ms. Potts," he admonished. He laughed darkly, drinking what was left in his glass.

He got up to get a refill, when he heard the elevator ding. He set his glass down and walked briskly to the doors, just waiting to pounce.

The doors opened, and a very disheveled, and still very drunk, Pepper greeted him. She scowled as she saw him standing there. "Mmmm,Tony?" she said. "Why are you here?" She stumbled a little, walking over to him.

Tony flared his nostrils, his jaw grinding. Pepper tried to wrap her arms around his neck, but he grabbed her forearms to stop her. "Don't touch me," he growled. A waft of alcohol and another man's scent burned his nostrils.

Pepper looked at him curiously. "Why? What's wrong with you?" she slurred.

"I got a very interesting email, Pepper," he began. "Something about you going out tonight with some guy named Clayton."

"Oh!" Pepper said. She smiled widely and started giggling. "Clayton," she said. "He's so funny. I haven't seen him in years, and he's..." she closed her eyes, but quickly opened them when she started to wobble. "He's so funny."

"Pepper, why the fuck did you go out with him?!" he said, fuming.

"Go out with who?" she asked, her brain not comprehending the question.

"Clayton, damn it!" Tony barked. He threw his hands up in disgust. Pepper looked at him in confusion.

"He's my...my...cousin," she muttered. She furrowed her brow, trying to process what was happening.

"Oh, your cousin," Tony chided. "Oh, perfect. Your cousin. Uh-huh," he said. "We have a massive fight, and suddenly Clayton, your ex-fiance, not your cousin, shows up to whisk you away for a night full of drunk sex. Yeah. Okay," Tony shook his head, chuckling darkly. "You're forgetting one thing, Pepper," he spat out. He jabbed a finger at his chest. "I used to be the fucking king of drunk sex. And I had a lot of cousins, when I used to party, too. It was the number one excuse for seeing multiple woman at one time. 'She's my cousin from out of town, baby, I swear!' " Tony mocked. "So just save it, honey! You want to go back to that loser? Fine. I know how the game is played and you're a terrible liar, Pepper. And that, on top of..." he waved a hand at her. "whatever this is, isn't a good look for you," he seethed.

Pepper watched him in silence. She was trying desperately to form the words to plead her case to him. "But...he is...my cousin. Why would we?...We didn't... have sex," she argued, grimacing at the thought. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Wow, Pepper," Tony scoffed. "Okay, you know what?" he said. He smiled coldly. "Stay here. Sleep this off. I'm gonna head back to Malibu. But just know that..." Tony inhaled and exhaled sharply, hating the taste of the words he was about to say. "...as much as it hurts to say it, we're officially done." Tony swiped his hands through the air to indicate the end.

Pepper winced at the sound of his voice. Tony turned to go. But before he made it to the platform to get into the suit, he turned around to look at her. She was frozen, looking at him through heartbroken eyes. He smiled sourly. "You know? I always thought I'd be the one to royally fuck this up." He chuckled darkly to himself, and looked away briefly before looking back at her. "I never thought in a million years it would be you, instead."

"Tony, please," Pepper pleaded. Tears ran down her cheeks. He ignored her and commanded JARVIS to assemble the suit. Pepper watched silently as it whirred and clicked around his body. His eyes were steely and cold as he looked at her. The last piece, the helmet, moved over onto his head and the faceplate clamped down. The eyes lit up fiercely. "Goodbye, Pepper," he said, his voice mechanical and cold-sounding through the comms system in the suit. Pepper watched as he shot up and out into the night, leaving her there alone in the dark.