AN: Penultimate chapter!
When they didn't hear anything for a week from the Asgardian healers, it was all Rhodey could do not to take out the charm thing Wong had given him and wish for one of them to come to take them to the colony where Pepper was. Now here it was almost another two weeks later, and Rhodey had finally gotten word from the Asgardians that while they wanted Pepper to remain with them for another week at least, they said he was free to come see her as was Morgan.
Uncertain about the reception they might receive should they see Thor while they were there, Rhodey decided to go for a visit to the colony first, and if everything went smoothly, he'd take Morgan back later. Now as he held the charm and waited for one of the wizards to show up to take him to the colony, he thought about how Morgan had taken the news upon waking up the morning after his mother had been transported to New Asgard in the middle of the night.
He had taken it well, all things considered but Rhodey had spent the better part of an hour that morning convincing the boy that his mother was now in Norway with the Asgardians, and that she hadn't in fact died in the middle of the night while he was asleep. Ultimately because he'd been a part of Morgan's life since he was born and because he had never lied to him were the factors that helped him to convince the boy that some point the woman they both loved would be coming home to them soon.
Finally the telltale signs of a portal began to form out thin air, and a split second later Doctor Strange walked through.
"Are you ready?" the sorcerer asked without preamble.
Rhodey nodded, "Yes, I'm ready."
"The boy's not going with us?"
A shake of the head no followed by, "No, I want to see how things go incase Thor makes an appearance. Besides, he's at school right now anyway."
Choosing not to make any comments on either part of what he'd been told, Stephen turned around moving his hands in a circle until a portal opened, and they could see a stone courtyard in the middle of the room, "After you, James."
Without hesitation or further insistence, he stepped through the portal, and was instantly in the courtyard he had seen on the other side of the portal. He waited for the sorcerer to follow him, and then with a nod, they both stepped forward to be greeted by a young Asgardian woman that Rhodey recognized as being one of the healers from three weeks ago.
She stepped forward, and with a small bow said, "The Chief Healer is in attendance with your wife, as is King Thor. If you will follow me, I will take you to them."
Rhodey started to follow her but stopped when he heard Stephen speak from behind.
"I will be taking my leave now."
"What? You're not coming in?"
"No, I'm not."
"Can you give us one second please?" Rhodey asked the unnamed healer.
"Aye," she said, and moved a little off to the side.
"Can I ask why you won't don't want to go in?"
"Uh maybe because while I consider her a friend, she is your wife, and not mine. Maybe because you haven't been able to see her for three weeks? Or maybe because I might be needed elsewhere for what a certain somewhat annoying billionaire would have undoubtedly referred to as wizarding business?"
Rhodey didn't miss the fact that last sentence the sorcerer had said were said with a tone of amusement rather than annoyance
"Alright then, I'll see you later… and I will see you later right? I'm not going to have to hitch a ride on an airplane to get back home am I?"
"Of course. You still have the stone Wong gave you right?"
"Yes."
"The stone is your ticket back. Just do what Wong told you to do before, and abracadabra one of us will be back to take you home."
Once Stephen had left, Rhodey followed the young Asgardian woman, whose name her learned was Kari, inside the building she referred to as the House of Healing. At hearing that, he couldn't help but smile a little because it made him think of The Lord of the Rings.
His smile fell away as they halted before a beautiful, ornate double mahogany doors, that had two guards standing on each side of the them. Kari stopped at the doors, then looked back at him before she stepped aside, "This is your wife's room. You may go in any time that you wish."
He gave her a nod, "Thank you."
The young healer bowed her head in return, and then started walking down a long hallway.
He watched her until she disappeared then looked back at the doors. He took a deep breath, and gave one of the guards a nod. The guard reached over and pulled open the heavy looking door. Taking another breath, he muttered a thank you to the guard who had opened the door for him, and he stepped into the room.
The room was huge, larger than any hospital room he'd ever been in, even in a private, luxury hospital suite, but he had little time to really take in the details before his eyes fell onto the bed in the middle of the room. He just did keep his jaw from dropping to the floor when the sight the bed held soaked its way down into his mind.
On the left side of the over large bed was Thor himself with his back turned towards the door. But the most shocking part of this picture was the fact Pepper was being held upright in the bed by her upper body laying against the Asgardian king's massive shoulder. He was further supporting her by having one arm wrapped around her waist. There was another person on the bed, one of the healers Rhodey guessed, holding a bowl in her hands from which she raised a spoon towards his wife's resting mouth. The woman spoke softly causing Pepper to raise her just long enough to take into her mouth whatever was on the spoon.
He watched them for a minute, and gently cleared his throat, drawing the attention of all three.
Pepper's tired eyes lit up as they found his. Her voice was somewhat weak when she said his name, "James." She tried to hold out her hand towards him but she was still too weak to keep it there.
Before another word could be spoken, he crossed the room, and sat down on the bed. He reached out, took her hand, and grasping it with tenderness.
"Hello," she said, still smiling her beautiful smile at him.
"Hello," he responded, "I was so worried about you. I'm glad you're better." Glancing over at the healer, he asked, "She is better now, right?"
A voice, a familiar voice spoke from the doorway of the room, "Aye, she is better than she was."
"She really is?"
He looked back to see Eir walk into the room. She nodded to Pepper on the bed, and turned back to him "Aye."
While she spoke, he looked into his wife's eyes, and asked her when she was finished, "Then why is she so weak... if I may ask?"
"Because Lady Virginia's illness was a great foe, greater than we prognosticated, but it has now been vanquished from her."
As she spoke, he watched while the other healer offered his wife more to eat. Pepper shook her head no, and the young woman immediately got up from the bed, then after a nod to Eir left the room.
"May I ask what she was giving Ginny to eat?"
"An ancient herbal broth that promotes healing within the body."
"How's it taste?"
"Good... really good."
Rhodey was about to say something else when a raven haired, serious looking woman who was clearly a member of their fighting forces entered the room, and said something into Thor's ear. While he watched Thor nodded at her.
"I will be there shortly."
The woman gave what only, as a former military man, Rhodey could describe as a salute, and left the room. The angle was all wrong for him but the Asgardian king attempted to look at him.
"Perhaps we should trade places?" came the suggestion from him.
"Yeah, we should. That is unless you want to lay down, honey?"
"No... I want to... to sit up for a... while."
"Alright then, let's find a way to get switched out."
With Eir's help, Pepper was kept upright in bed with Rhodey took Thor's place. Once he was seated where the demigod had been, the chief healer of the Asgard helped Pepper ease into the arms of her husband.
"I will return later to see how you are faring."
"O... kay. Thank you... Thor."
He nodded, and with one to Rhodey he left.
"I know that it has been too long since you had had any time alone together, hence I shall now take my own leave."
Rhodey nodded, "Alright, thank you."
"If you need anything, one of us will be nearby. Just call out, and someone will answer."
"Okay, we will. Thank you again."
She smiled, nodded, and they were left alone.
"So how are you feeling?" he asked quietly.
It felt wonderful to hold her in his arms warm, breathing normally, and oh so very much alive.
"Tired... I'm so... tired."
"I bet you are... after everything that's happened. But you're going to be okay. You are going to be okay," he said, rubbing his hand up and down her back.
She nodded, then asked, "How's... Mor... Morgan?"
"He's good. He's been worried about you, of course. And not being able to see you for all this time was hard but I made sure he knew you were away to help you heal enough so you could come back home to us."
"I... missed you both... so much."
"I know. We... I missed you too," he said, holding her as tightly as he dared to, "I'm so thankful that you're... you're still here."
"Me too. I... love you."
"I love you too."
A few hours later, while his wife was sleeping, Rhodey was walking around outside the House of Healing. He was in the gardens, waiting for a certain Asgardian to join him there at his request because he had some things he needed to say and there were some things he needed to ask. Finally when the sun had started to sink in the sky he heard footfall approaching where he was.
"You asked to speak to me?" Thor asked as the Earth man turned around to face him.
"Yes, I did, I wanted to say I don't what changed your mind so you relented and let your healers save Ginny, but thank you for doing it. Because I have no doubt in my mind she would have been dead for weeks by now if you had not. So thank you."
Thor nodded, "You are welcome." It was all he said. He didn't elaborate any further by saying it was something he should have allowed the healers to help Pepper from the start.
When it became clear that was all he was going to say, Rhodey pressed onwards, "Can I ask you something?"
The short haired blonde head nodded, "Go on."
He suspected what he wanted to ask might offend Thor but he wanted to know the answer.
"I want to know what changed your mind?" He knew it had to have been something big, maybe personal because when he left before, Thor had made it very clear that Pepper would receive no help from their healers, not even if it meant her all too certain death.
He was right. His question seemed to have offended the demigod. The frown that had already been present on Thor's face deepened. Oh well, he would not withdraw the question and if he didn't get an answer, he didn't get an answer.
"I was made to remember what it was like to lose your mother."
"I don't under-"
"It does not matter. All that matters is the young one will have his mother for many of your years to come."
Rhodey looked at him for a moment, decided that was the only answer he was going to get from the Asgardian, and so he nodded, "Yeah, my son… Tony's son won't have to finish growing up without his mother now, and that is all that matters."
Pepper stayed with the healers another week before Eir deemed her well enough to return home. Morgan hadn't had to wait to see his mother just after she came home. Rhodey had taken him to the colony a few times with the help of the order of the Kamar-Taj sorcerers. The little boy had been overjoyed to see his mother again, and he had been awed at meeting so many of the Asgardians, Thor included.
"You knew my Daddy Tony?" the ten year old asked, his voice full of awe.
Rhodey just managed to keep the shock off of his face when Thor actually knelt to be more on the boy's level.
"Indeed, young Stark, I did."
"What was he like?" Morgan asked.
At hearing the question, his Dad prepared to intervene, worried the Asgardian was going to say something not nice regarding Tony.
Thor met his eyes over the boy's head, and shook his head ever so slightly, then looked at Morgan again, "Your father was very brave, Morgan Stark, one of the bravest men of Earth I have ever known. He was also the kind of a man that a son should be very proud to have as his own."
When Thor looked in his direction again, Rhodey mouthed a thank you to him.
But the meeting he'd remember the most was when Morgan met the Chief Healer, Eir.
Thor made the introductions, and like Thor she got down to the boy's level, "Well met, Master Stark."
"Hello," the boy replied, "How are you doing?" He offered his hand, and without any hesitation, she enclosed his hand with hers.
When they first arrived on Earth they had learned about many of Earth's customs and sayings. It was something they had to do if they wanted to avoid any misunderstandings with the people who had been kind enough to give them a new home on their planet. So the little boy's greeting question in return did not throw the Asgardian woman off in the least tiny bit.
Eir gave a warm smile, and answered his question, "I am doing well, thank you. How are you doing?"
"I'm good… thank you."
"You are welcome."
"Morgan, isn't there something that you wanted to say to Chief Healer Eir?" Rhodey gently prompted when the boy fell silent.
"Oh, yeah! Uh I wanted to say…. That is… thank you for making my Mommy all better." Before another word could be said about anyone, Morgan threw his arms around her neck, and Rhodey would swear to it that he saw tears in the healer's eyes while she returned his hug.
A few moments passed as Eir composed herself, and likely made sure her voice was steady before she said softly, "Saving your Mother's life was one of the greatest honors that my sisters and I have shared, Master Stark, but you are most welcome."