A/N: So here is chapter seven.

Hope you like

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Friend or Foe Arc has ended.

The Awakening Arc has started.

Chapter 7- The Awakening Arc- Spirited Away


Pepper would rise whenever the sun would. She turned her head to the direction on the clock; it was only 5:55 am. Knowing herself all-to-well, Pepper decided to get out of bed before she fell asleep again. She took the bandages that were wrapped around her head off, and entered the bathroom for a cold shower. She bowed her head as the cold what water fell from above; trying her best to think of what happened the day before. But to her dismay, it would strain her mind if she did so. She gave it a rest and continued to shower. Once done, she went back to her room to change. When Pepper looked at the dresser, she found a neatly folded uniform. She smiled at the fraternal twins' hospitality and dressed herself. She redid the bandages, for she was yet to be cured.

As soon as she finished dressing, she searched for her backpack but could not find it. Suddenly, she faintly remembered that she had brought a new one and found that one instead. Pepper slipped on her shoes, and left the apartment. As she walked the streets of Chinatown, she noticed a grave similarity between it and Times Square: no one was around in the morning. She liked it better this way. Despite her usual display of characteristics, she was much the opposite person of what she seems to be. Mainly because: she was quiet and calm when no one was around-well only because she was snooping in her father's laptop. As she walked, she was lost in thought of him. She sighed; out of all things to recall, it was him. But she couldn't blame herself, she did love him.

"Tip-Toe, we don't want to wake up them up. Mom hasn't been sick for a while now, and dad seems less tired than usual." Pepper's sixteen year old brother, Samuel, whispered. The little four years old covered her mouth from her loud giggling, but nodded in the process. It was 6:30 and the first day of summer vacation. However, it wasn't just the start of their break, but as well the 15th year anniversary of their parents' marriage. Being how it was their parents would renew their vows this year, the Potts siblings wanted everything to start out great. Especially, because they were going back to Ireland so that the vows can be renewed traditionally.

She remembered how long it took them to make breakfast (they were extremely cautious not to make a mess). The excitement her and her brother shared when they heard the news that they were going to Ireland. The giggling she kept on for hours, because she had been chosen as the flower girl. Snooping in on her brother's dates; always trying to help in the many ways she could. Pepper could not go one day without being, playing, or even talking with her Samuel.

"I promise I'll always be there for you, k?" He said to her once…

Then, suddenly, she knew why he died; she was the murderer after all. She was being protected, because, like always, she couldn't do anything. Whenever things got 'violent' between their parents, Samuel and her would flee to nearest hotel, and stay there for the night, until things had settled. Pepper had remembered him asking her what her goals in life were; it did not take her a while to think it through.

"I want to be strong and brave like father, and kind and caring like mother." The squeaky-like voice had accompanied the five year old ginger. Their giggles turned into laughs, so that even now she hears his laughs and chuckles now. Pepper had also remembered that when she was little, she had very long hair. One day at school, the other boys had decided to give her a "haircut" and they cut her hair to chin length. When she opened the door to the hotel room they were staying in, her Samuel stared in a curious, yet awestruck expression. Fearing that one day she might become a burden to him, she lied to him; told him that it was her decision. Samuel patted his little sister on the head, kneeled down, and grinned widely. He told her, "Well I think it's great on you" and went back to his previous occupation. Despite the fact that she had preferred it long, she agreed to what her Nii-Nii said and kept it short.

"I'm an average girl, and sometimes I wish I could be more than that: to exceed excellence. As the days seem to go on endlessly, I await the 'someday' I've always been promised. That 'someday' when things are supposed to be perfect... the 'someday' when I find my place in this unforgiving world. I just wish…I could actually do something…something so that Nii-Nii wouldn't have to watch me with a disgrace." She though. Before she had known it, she was walking up the school steps.

As she walked through the door, another student had rushed up to her in concern.

"Pepper! Pepper, are you alright?" Asked a frantic Rhodey; she smiled and giggled at his frenetic attitude.

"Of course I am, why do you ask- Oh this," She pointed to her head. "It's fine, I don't know what happened, but I feel great." She reassured him.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean someone says one thing, but it's another thing to hide it?" She sensed his motherly instincts emerging.

"Ya know, ever since you referred to me as being on the "crazy" side, I don't think we've talked so much. As a matter of fact, I don't think we talk at all anymore. Oh oh oh oh, maybe we should do lunch today. We can go to the pizzeria right down on-"

"Whoa wait, Pepper stop." He said interrupting her. "What do you mean we haven't talk in ages? We just talked to each two days ago." Rhodey had an uncertain define emotion. Some could say he could be shocked, but he could also be concerned; but as well, they can think of it as confusion, yet at the same time it was the look of deep concentration.

"I don't think saying "hi" is a complete conversation, Rhodey." She responded in a matter-of-fact. Rhodey thought hard about this situation, and then it automatically occurred.

"Pepper, I think…I think Gene did this to you." At the sound of his name, Pepper had instantly, if not robotically, given a low short gasp. Her pupils reduce to the sizes of peas, as if to say: Rhodey had hit a nerve without thinking clearly. She bowed her head, and hid her eyes, not wanting to look at him at the moment.

"Liar…"She muttered quietly.

"Think about it; we just talked two days ago, and yesterday you were with Gene, and today you act like you barely know." He was explaining such events as if he had been there himself.

"Liar…Liar…" Her voice, to some extent, had risen.

"Pepper, I think it could be possible that Gene did this to you and-"

"LIAR!" Rhodey was taken back, as her voice echoed throughout the hallway, and had somewhat vibrated against the glass. The birds near the window quickly flew away when they felt the uncomfortable sensation rub against them.

"Gene would never do that," She bellowed. "Even he did, he would…he would…" She trailed off for a bit; not being able to comprehend such things he would do to her.

"He would do what Pepper? He asked her calmly, and she looked away.

"If I know him any better than anyone else, than…he'd give a damn good reason why he did so!" She yelled back. As she stormed off, that's when he noticed everything. He noticed how her strawberry-blonde hair was back length; her bangs were tucked behind her ears, and they were held back by two unnoticeable bobby pins. Initially, her hair was short and spiky, and the majority of her bangs were pushed to one side. However, this was not the part he found most alien; but the fact that her usual soft face and soft eyes, were now sharp and hard. If he knew her any well, something would have happened to her; whether it's a physical or emotional change. He knew very well that the only reason she kept her hair short was: in honor of her brother, Samuel; so to let it grow smelled nothing but suspicion. He would worry about that later; right now he had to go and tell Tony about this.

"It could be possible that Gene did this to you…" No, she couldn't bear it if he did things like that. Then again, why would she care what he thought of her; after all, they hated each other. So maybe Rhodey was right, maybe- no, it couldn't be. Something deep inside told her that they got along just fine.

She was at the highest floor of the school building; the Programs floor, as some called it. Ever since the new floor was built, Pepper had noticed it had a view of the roof; more specifically, the spot where she would sit alone sometimes. It was there that she saw him; Gene Kahn with his knees bent up, and his arms holding them so they would not fall. She quickly headed for the stairs. She needed to speak to him right away.

When she set foot on the roof, she walked towards the stairs, and had made a quick notice. The trip from the door to the stairs was cut in half due to the new floor built on top of the roof. Gene had turned in the direction of the noise approaching. He was facing south -with all the buildings- so she decided to sit on her legs facing west – in sigh of Stark International-. When she sat, she quietly greeted him, and waved back.

"It's a beautiful day today" She spoke unexpectedly.

"What?" Gene had sounded distracted.

"I said it's a beautiful day today. Then again, its spring so every day is beautiful," She took a pause. "Even when it rains…" It had come to Gene's awareness that her dialogue was somewhat different when they were alone. When they were alone…every time he thought about it, his sexual tension would rise every now and then. Before, they either spoke with their hands, or spoke with their- no; he shouldn't be thinking things like that.

"Hey Gene," She said, interrupting his thought. "I'm in a new chapter in this manga I'm reading, but I'm still not over what happened in the previous chapter. I've asked a lot of people what they thought, but they all said, more or less, the same thing. I was wondering what you'd think of it." She focused her attention on her soft palms, which rested on her laps.

"I suppose I could help. What's it about?" He asked kindly.

"Well you see, this guy, Keiichi did something bad to his friend Rena, and didn't tell her. And the next day, Rena had barely recognized her friend Mion, because she had gotten a concussion, and got amnesia. Mion thought it was more than that, so she blamed their supposed ex-friend, Keiichi." Her pace had become quicker. "So Rena called Mion a liar, and stormed off after that. Rena put a lot of thought into, and even if Keiichi lied to her, she'd promised herself she'd forgive him if he'd apologize. So my question is to you, do you think it was alright for Keiichi to lie to her?" Pepper had looked up, and locked a gaze with Gene. He read her eyes, and understood her metaphorical story. He closed his eyes, sighed, and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"As much as it would hurt more than his own death, Keiichi wouldn't tell Rena anything." His grip tightened in his frustration, but not enough to cause her pain. Their gaze deepened with his actions.

"Gene" She whispered softly.

"Keiichi had thought by performing his actions, Rena's life would be a less burden. I think Keiichi really cares about her, and would do anything to make her happy." Pepper, surprisingly, was left without words. It was rare for him to show any emotion other than irritation, bored, or no emotion depending on the case. She smiled her usual soft smiled.

"Gene I…thank you" She quickly embraced him only to have him do the same. Gene let her go, and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. It didn't matter to Pepper whether the kiss was random, or not; it matter that she actually felt her heart beat again.

Soon after, she returned the innocent kiss he gave her. She lightly placed her hand on his jaw, while Gene gently grasped her neck. The kiss was weak enough to allow her to stay in reality (even though she does off at times) but strong enough to make the butterflies in her stomach, flutter once again. It was a long kiss, and it had grown, to some extent, deeper. Each time they would run out of oxygen, they would pause and continue; even if they had not regained full breath.

"Last time I checked, she was headed towards here. She's probably up here." An all too familiar voice suddenly came. The two hesitantly broke the kiss up, as the voice kept coming closer.

"And you're sure she doesn't know me." The other following voice asked. Gene quickly past Pepper, and headed for the other staircase on her side.

"Where are you going?" She asked, as he walked down the stairs.

"Let's just say, Stark, Rhodes, and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye." Before reaching the floor he turned around, and looked at her. "And Pepper,"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." When he had said that, her eyes got teary not remembering when she had been this happy. She wiped the tears, as she heard the other footsteps coming near her. She turned around to see Rhodey, and a friend. Her eyes narrowed, at Rhodey's sight; she did not forget the incident that happened 13 minutes ago.

"Hey Pepper." But she ignored him, nevertheless.

"This is our friend, Tony. You remember him, right?" Rhodey asked as he pointed to the heir next to him.

"Tony Stark, right?" She asked. The boys nodded their heads excitedly; both hoping that these were signs that her memory was regaining.

"Sorry, but I only know that you transferred here two days. Your father died in a plane crash, and only you survived. But if you say you're my friend, I'll believe you." She offered her smile again.

"What, you'd believe that I'm your friend? Pepper, for all you know, I could say that I was your brother or whatever." The keyword: brother, that Tony had used, made something click in Pepper's mind. She remembered who Tony was, and how she hated him.

"No you're not. You were never like him." She looked the other. Anyone that knew Pepper knew that the word brother was absolutely forbidden near her.

"Wait, you actually have an older brother? I never knew." At that point, Tony took out his pod, and began to do research. Ten seconds later, he had found what he was looking.

"Yes, now let's just leave it at th-"

"Samuel Potts," Her heart rate increased over his name. "5'9, Dark Ginger hair…wait a minute" Tony looked closer into the small screen

"Stop…please." She pleaded quietly

"Deceased ten years ago, at age 16" Pepper covered her ears as he continued.

"Please stop it." She raised her voice, but it was not loud enough, so she had began to whimper.

"It says here, that he was trying to protect a little girl that was coming home from school. In doing so, he was beaten until he bled. Then, he was severely cut everywhere. Not only that, but he was shot in right leg, and then he got mim-"

"SHUT UP!" Pepper screamed at the top her lungs. She knew very well what had happened that day. Her eyes darken, and she herself out of breathes. She got up, and her bangs hid her eyes; that familiar Poker Face appearing.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone. That I would never forgive you, despite what you say." Her words came out cold and harsh. Tony had tried to talk, but he couldn't find the right words. Pepper threatened him about bothering her, and she spelt out the consciences. She left them, and headed for class.

The rest of day was rather silent. There was barely talk amongst the students at the Tomorrow academy; the uncomfortable feelings that hid in the air, was getting to them. And by the end of the day, all the students rushed out to get away from the weirdness that lurked in the school. Pepper was one of the few who left early, so Tony did not get the chance to talk to her.


~Potts Residence~

Upon arriving at her apartment, Pepper instantly went to her brother's room. It was the first thing she did since Samuel's death; she'd prayed to him. She had kneeled in front of a picture of him, and began to pray. When she was done, she made sure to keep the flame going.

"I'm sorry Nii-Nii" She said before she had left.

Knock, knock, knock came from the door.

"Patricia, it's Shizune from next door. I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place and have dinner." The 29 year old asked, but received no answer. She knocked a second try, but again did not receive again. She knocked a third, and the door creaked open. Shizune felt like she was in one of those classic horror movies, where something always happens to the person who knocks on the door.

"Umm Patricia, I don't think it's wise to leave your door open." When she entered, the apartment was so empty that the silence had echoed. Shizune had begun to search all over the place for Pepper, but did not find her. When she reached Pepper's rooms, the curtains swung in the breeze to the full opened windows. Frantically, she hurried to the hallway to get the phone, and dialed the three digit number.

"Hello 911, I'd like to report a missing 16 year old teenager."


A/N: Longest chapter ever. Next Chapter will be filler, so we can take a break from all this angst. And take it all you can, because I will throw more than just this. It gets more depressing. Anyhow, I will cancel this story if I don't get more reviews. I know a lot of you like this story, how do I know I have a lot of hits to this story, so please be sports and review. Remember, life is better with reviews. Tell me what I did good at, and what I need improvement (don't say grammar, because I know)

Ciao