Yes, this chapter did get out faster than expected. See what I can accomplish when I have no one to text during the week (my boyfriend went on retreat so I suddenly had more free time). Also, working through the hard parts first and then piecing them together seem to be helpful for me. So here is this chapter. Its sad, but I don't think it'll make you cry per say. Also, thanks for the review guys!
Disclaimer: I don't know how to speak a lick of Russian, so if its wrong, blame google and not me.
Pepper woke up rather suddenly to the sound of Jarvis' voice and the lights in the room coming on. "Good morning. Its 7am, the weather in New York is 70 degrees with clear skies, winds coming out of the northwest up to five miles per hour." Pepper rolled over and buried her face into her pillow. She needed more sleep that she had the chance to get. Or at least she had needed deeper sleep than she got. She could feel a headache tugging at the front of her head, a result she knew of crying right before she fell asleep. She begrudgingly looked up and her eyes were met with the brown eyes belonging to a certain . She smiled a little, happy to see his familiar face there next to her. She really was home, wasn't she?
"Morning," Tony said with a smile.
"Morning," Pepper returned. She stretched, "Can I go back to sleep?"
Tony sat up, "Are you kidding me? There are things to be done!"
"Such as?"
"Well, we are having guests over later," Tony started.
Pepper sat up, "We are? Since when?"
"Since always," Tony smirked, "I invited the team over to hang out after the service today."
"You could have told me that sooner." Pepper got out of bed and walked over to her closet. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. Her hair was sticking up everywhere and she had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep in the past week. It was nothing a little makeup and styling couldn't fix though. She walked into the closet and looked at two rows of clothes on either side of her.
"The service is outside by the way," Tony yelled from the bedroom.
Pepper nodded and sighed, "Jarvis, I'm thinking black dresses today."
"An excellent choice," Jarvis chimed in. The clothes on either side whirled around on the conveyer belt like closet rod. Soon all of her black dresses were facing out with all of the other clothes hidden behind. Pepper walked down the line looking at her options before grabbing a tasteful tea-length dress with a short sleeve and a sweetheart neckline. She then walked to the end of the closet and picked out a pair of black heels that matched the dress perfectly. "Thank you Jarvis," she said as she walked out of the closet.
Tony looked at her clothing choice in her hand and raised an eyebrow, "You are going with THAT look?"
She playfully hit him, "If I remember correctly you were the one that insisted I bought this dress in the first place."
"Oh right," Tony laughed. "I've bought so many dresses recently that it must have slipped my mind."
"Sir," Jarvis chimed in, "Steve Rogers is requesting permission to enter the living quarters. Shall I let him in?"
"Yeah go ahead," Tony said to the AI. He kissed Pepper and then headed off towards the door, "I'm going to go see what the Star Spangled Monkey wants and let you get dressed. I'll see you downstairs."
~::~
Pepper came into the kitchen with her heels in her hand. The dress still fit well and it laid on her in such a way that it seemed to help her to appear a bit more graceful. She had pulled her hair up in a tasteful bun, figuring that that way it wouldn't get blown around by the wind since they were going to be outside.
She took a seat next to Bruce, who was wearing dark grey pants and a darker purple shirt on than the day before. He also had on a sports coat that matched the pants. He smiled at her as she sat down and he pushed her a bowl of freshly cut mixed fruit that was sitting on the table, "No strawberries".
She smiled back at the doctor, "Thank you."
"So remind me again why this is important," Tony said as he entered the kitchen followed by a tall blond man. Both men were already dressed for the service wearing suits that were black and white themed. "Your shield isn't in any danger or anything last time I checked. Think about it, who would want a really expensive Frisbee, beside you? No one uses that kind of thing anymore."
"Come on Tony," the man pleaded. "I just want to know what the chances are of getting another one if something were to happen. I was told that there wasn't any more of the right material, but after being in ice for 70 years things change…"
"Look Steve, I can't make any promises. If that was the last of it, then it's the last of it."
"Maybe there's some newer thing that will accomplish the same goal? Just look into it for me?"
Tony closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine, I'll have Jarvis run through things and see if he can dig anything up for you. Now will you stop pestering me?"
"Hello Steve," Bruce chimed in, trying to end the bickering. "Want any fruit?"
Steve seemed startled by the presence of other people in the room which he had not realized before, but he regained his composure rather quickly, "No thank you doctor, I ate on my way over."
"Fair enough," Bruce conceded. "This is Pepper Potts."
Pepper smiled and extended a hand, "It's nice to finally meet you."
Steve shook her hand, "Steve Rodgers. And likewise." He looked her over, but not in an intrusive way as most men did. He kept a straight face, "So rumor is that you are the only one Stark actually listens to around here."
Pepper laughed, "Well, I guess that depends on how you define him listening…"
Tony turned around with half a bagel in his hand, "Hey, I listen!"
Steve smirked, "Oh really? Based off of Agent Romanoff leaving while I was on my way in, I am under the impression that you did something SHEILD had told you not to…"
"Sir," Jarvis said "It is now 9:30am. If you don't wish to be late for the service I would advise that you prepare for departure."
"Sounds like a plan," Tony said as he scarfed down the last of his bagel. He tossed Banner a set of car keys from his pocket which the doctor caught and then stared at. He shook his head when his eyes came to rest on the Jaguar logo on them. Tony didn't notice, "You had said you wanted to drive yourself right?"
"Yeah," Banner said with a small laugh, "Only I didn't expect you to give me the keys to one of your expensive cars. Don't you have like an old Volvo or something?"
Tony grabbed Pepper's hand and started towards the elevator, "Remember what I said about tip-toeing?"
"Yeah but this seems more like…"
The elevator came and Tony and Pepper got in, "Strut, big guy. You can do it. Besides, its just a car." And with that the elevator doors closed.
"Why are we driving separately?" Pepper asked.
"Bruce and I both have an extra stop to make on the way and it'll be faster if we do them separately," Tony explained as the elevator descended to the garage floor.
~::~
Tony and Pepper walked into the service area. SHIELD had set aside part of a park to hold the service since apparently, it was a location Coulson would visit when he needed to clear his head. Pepper couldn't help but think that it looked quite beautiful with the trees rustling with the wind and the bright colors of the flowers that lined the walkways. In the area set aside for the service, there was an urn on a pedestal-like platform in front of a bunch of rows of folding chairs. Pepper recognized a bunch of faces standing off to the side of the chairs. Steve, Natasha, and Bruce stood with Thor, Clint and Maria Hill (all of which Pepper could only identify because she had seen their pictures either in a file of Tony's or on the news).
Tony sighed heavily and pushed his sun glasses up his face further. Pepper could tell that he was going to try and pull off his professional attitude while in front of other SHEILD agents, and she couldn't blame him really. Sometimes Tony just needed to be allowed to hide behind his mask.
The two of them walked over to the group. Pepper found it odd; no one said a word to anyone else. They all just stood there looking at one another. Clearly they were a team, Pepper thought. They were all just reading each other's body language. Or maybe guilt was weighing down on each of them as they thought of how they could have prevented the situation. It was difficult to tell.
"If everyone could take their seats…" a voice said over the speaker set up at the front. The majority of the people filled into the right side of the set of seats. They were all wearing the same dark uniform and walked with purpose, a small handful of them silently crying. Maria went over and sat in the front row of that section. "SHEILD's people," Tony whispered to Pepper, clarifying who they were.
The Avengers team all filed into the row of seats. Pepper couldn't help but realize how silly it looked. Thor and Steve both looked like normal adults in children seats just because of their massive size. Pepper ended up sitting at the end of the row, with Tony on her left.
Director Fury stood at the front of the crowd next to the urn on the pedestal and waited for everyone to quiet down before he spoke. "Today we gather here to remember a fallen comrade. Phil Coulson was more than just any agent. Phil was the hardest worker SHEILD has ever known, often volunteering to relocate or to take on an assignment before the request could be made of him. He always jumped into action without hesitation, with the hopes of keeping the world safe for everyone even if at his own expense.
"Phil never married, was an only child, and his parents died when he was a young man. That is why he truly saw his fellow agents as his family. Phil showed us all how to be a good man. He would save the day even when things looked bleak. He knew how to love his work, but he was always fun to be around. He was a great friend to all that needed his help. Even when it was against orders, he believed in the good in all people. He gave the most second chances of anyone I know. He was also the most patient person on the face of the planet. But I am sure that I don't need to tell all of you any of that because you know it all first hand.
I have worked alongside this man for as long as I can remember, and he has always had this obsession with heroes. I've heard stories of him dreaming of the super heroes from before he could walk. And I can honestly say that no one deserves the title of super hero more than Phil. He saved numerous people throughout his life in small ways and in big. He died doing the right thing, and he believed that his death was for the greater good. There is no death nobler than his. Phil Coulson is a hero; it is a simple as that. We would do well to remember him as such."
The Director turned and placed an open box on the platform that held the urn. Inside of it was a medal, with the inscription of "SHEILD Medal of Honor" engraved into it. He walked away and everyone sat still for a moment.
A woman in a plaid shirt and jeans went up next, her eyes darting back and forth, a clear sign that she was not comfortable with her surroundings. She placed a pack of powdered sugar doughnuts on the pedestal. She whipped her eye with the back of her sleeve before she hurried away.
Next, Maria stood up and the rest of the SHEILD personnel did so as well by their seats, including Natasha and Clint. She was the only one to move though. She marched over to the pedestal and placed a picture of all of the SHEILD recruits on it at some camp in a desert. The picture frame was engraved at the top with "thank you from all of us" on it. She then returned to her seat and sat down, followed by the rest of the group.
Steve Rogers was the first of the Avengers to move. He walked forward to the urn on its pedestal. His face was hard as stone as he placed a collectable Captain America vintage trading card down next to the urn. On it in his hand writing, Steve had written, "Sorry this is late. –Captain America".
Next in line was Bruce, with a solemn smile on his face. He gingerly placed down a single, white carnation next to the trading card. He shook his head and whispered, "you will be missed" before walking on. Thor came up after that and placed a post card from New Mexico down. He struck his chest and bowed in respect before going back to his seat without a word.
Clint came up next, his eyes red although he marched up with his head held high. He placed a twenty dollar bill down on the platform, "I guess you did win that bet" he said. Natasha came up behind him and shook her head. She placed a sealed envelope down on top of Clint's money, "Спасибо за шанс ... и пинок под зад, когда я в ней нуждался," she said.
Tony stepped up next, keeping ahold of Pepper's hand and guiding her along behind him. He stopped and looked at the items placed down by everyone that had already been up to say goodbye. He smirked a little and reached into his inside coat pocket to get the item he and Pepper had stopped for on the way. He pulled out a small bottle of Bourbon and placed it on the ground, next to the platform, "You finally aren't on duty…" Pepper placed a hand on the urn, and felt herself start to choke up a bit. "Thank you Phil. For always being there for them." Pepper then turned away and allowed for Tony to lead her off to the side where the other Avengers had assembled.
Russian translation: "Thanks for the chance… and the kick in the butt when I needed it"
Write me a review please. I think I'll be able to crank out another chapter later this week, but if I am not happy with the reviews I will hold back the chapter for a bit longer. Thanks for being a great group of readers. I love each and every one of you!
To whomever it was that asked me to include the donuts, super nanny and a Taser: I got the donuts done. But the other two items I'll include in the next chapter. They just didn't work here. Thanks for understanding and know that I am trying to make it happen :D