Guest Review Responses

Muah: Another great chap! Mockingjay was great! Ever considered writing hunger games fics? *wink wink* - I have considered writing MJ fics and I'll probably do one later on in the future, but there are some AWESOME writers there already. It's kinda intimidating.

Muah: Oh my god! Why you do this? – Because I'm evil and have no heart! KIDDING! I'm not evil… much… sometimes… most of the time… :P

Guest: ...I'm going to brake sth. Or someone. Please keep it up. – One more horrible chapter and that's it for a while! Just one more and then it gets better quick, fast and in a hurry :D

Someone: If I was bad enough to swear, I would...but I'm not... so... yeah... your saved from my angry review and caps this time (And this time only!)... cuz what I normally say in my angry reviews, doesn't fit in with how I feel -_- And then you say it's gonna get worse? I-I...I just don't know what to say... But I do need to say this: You know how PercyJacksonLover14 threw Brussels sprouts at you? (Yep! I didn't miss that, I sat down in my comfy bean bag with a bowl of popcorn...I have to say...PercyJacksonLover14 sure makes great movies!) well...if you don't want them...CAN I HAVE THEM?! I LOVE BRUSSELS SPROUTS! – MUCH WORSE! IN THIS CHAPPIE! But it also gets LOTS better in the Epilogue. Just bear with me :D And you can have the Brussel sprouts. I think she's gonna throw something much worse at me after this chapter. Probably a rabid dog or something.

Toni: "We're running out of time." ? I'm shocked. Pepper dying. Fury being unforgivably evil. Wish you'd make it better now. I have no idea what's going on and it has left me feeling confused as to why. I don't want Pepper to die, but I don't see how they'll make it out of this okay. – I'll make it better in the Epilogue, can't say that enough. And about Pepper… well… spoiler alert: she HAS to die :(

apps: I am not happy! – Oh, crud! This chapter is probably not gonna make you any happier. Just try to stick through it to the epilogue, and then it should be better. Please…? :'(


Chapter 8: August

Last month, the couple had not been able to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. In March, they had not been able to celebrate James' first birthday. In May, they had barely had any chance to celebrate Tony's birthday. And this time next year, Tony suspected, neither he nor Pepper would be around to celebrate anything else if whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. had planned for them eventually came to fruition. He had already prearranged this getaway, months ago, and today he was glad that he had made the entire vacation plan a reality, even if Pepper was now mostly tied to the Pep Ride – even if just to see the look of surprise on his wife's face. Just as it was the case at the moment.

"An island?" Pepper asked for the third time since they had landed on an unsettled piece of land – her unsettled piece of land. She had somewhat expected Tony to bring them back to the Bahamas when he said that they would be taking the jet to travel, but she had not expected their private yacht to be waiting for them at the bay to pick them up and take them across the sea.

"You-you bought me an island?"

"Yup," Tony said with pride. "I told you this is what I do for a serious date, remember?"

"Yeah," she shook her head at the memory of that particular conversation between them in Central Park. "But I think I also remember saying I could buy my own island if I wanted to."

"But you haven't," he pointed out and began walking back to the Stark yacht for their luggage. "You bought a house."

"Actually, that was for you," Pepper admitted and followed his movements with her eyes. "The property title has your name on it."

"Well," Tony said once he came out of the ship with several bags in hand. "This island's title has your name on the paper."

Pepper opened her mouth to retort, but when she acknowledged that she had nothing meaningful to add to the conversation – the land had already been bought and paid for – she decided to just let her exotic husband be his extravagant self.

"How do you even buy an island, these days?"

"You have a last name of Stark."

"It was rhetorical, Tony," she rolled her eyes and he simply shrugged.

"It's a shame we didn't plan this together, because we could've put my house on your island, and we wouldn't have to camp on the beach while we're here."

"We're camping?"

"We could," he said with another shrug, and then dumped the bags on the sand, causing the white, extremely soft and fine dust to briefly lift in the air. "Or I could've asked if you even wanted to camp before I brought down these heavy bags."

"Or you could've asked–" her right hand suddenly went to her chest, her head hung, and she began gasping for air. "Jonas… to… to… help…"

"Pepper!"

Tony ran towards her and towered over her while she sat on the Pep Ride. He rubbed her back and waited for the redhead to breath in enough oxygen to continue their conversation, all the while Tony thought about how it was a miracle in and of itself that she had survived the cabin pressure change while flying here from their home. All he wanted at the moment, however, was for her to remain alive long enough to enjoy a few days in the tropical paradise he had gotten for her. He just wanted her last days to be the best ones she could possibly have, even if she did not make it to her birthday, this time around.

Every time she lost her breath in the middle of a sentence, it took longer and longer for her to recuperate. And every time this had happened to her since their rendezvous, two days ago, the more his resolve expanded regarding what he was going to do to S.H.I.E.L.D. once Pepper was gone. Turning back on Extremis in himself was going to be step one. Using it to learn everything about S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to be step two. Pinpointing all the locations of the organization throughout the world was going to be step three. Locking up Rhodey in a safe location would become step four, and then going on an unstoppable rampage to take down the worldwide association would be his final task – that along with taking Nick Fury down himself, alone, while he told the one-eyed man why his death sentence was being carried out in the first place and by him.

All in good time.

It took Pepper a couple of minutes to regain composure. Once she did, she patted Tony's arm to let him know she was going to be alright – at least until she lost her breath again for speaking too fast.

"Jonas," she continued, but this time spoke slower than before. "You should've asked Jonas to help you before you decided to leave him in the Bahamas with the jet."

"It's alright," he shrugged again. "I can put them back inside the yacht. Besides, the poor man flew us here on a very short notice. Least we could do for him is to let him enjoy his time on vacation while he waits on us to be done."

"I guess you're right," Pepper agreed. "But before we decide to camp here, shouldn't we map out the place first? It's gonna be extremely dark when the night falls."

"True," Tony replied and took out his pod. "I haven't had the chance to do much with it other than make sure it was not populated by dangerous animals or plants. The rest remains unexplored."

"That's a head start," the redhead stated. "I don't know about the rest of it, but everything here by the beach is beautiful."

"That's the idea," he said with a proud smile. "I wanted to give you something that'd make you happy. And that was before we even knew… before we accepted that… that you will… well…"

"I know," she said in what she hoped was a calming voice, and then lost herself in the natural wonders before her. "It's perfect, Mr. Stark."

"Only the best for the Missus," he replied and then took a moment to enjoy the view while he stood next to her.

The first selling point of the deserted location had been its proximity to the Bahamas, a place that was incredibly significant to them both. It was almost unbelievable to Tony that, little over a year ago, he and Pepper had walked down the aisle a few miles from their current location. He had even seen said island from the plane when they had landed in the Bahamas a year ago, but it had not been until recently that he had even considered inquiring about the possibility of buying the piece of land.

The second selling point had been the great location of it. It was far away enough to provide privacy and a sense of the two of them being the only people left in the world, but it was also close enough to civilization should they needed to grab a bite to eat, seek medical attention, or simply craved a real toilet and clean water. The yacht would serve as their indoor plumbing miracle for now, but had they had the chance to further explore the island and spend more time on it, the yacht would have not served them as well in the long term.

The other option had been to build a real house on the island itself, but Tony had not wanted to plan ahead that much. It had always been his intention to let the ginger do whatever she wanted with the place, and he had wanted to leave it as close to its natural state as possible until she gave the word. The point was moot now, anyway. After Pepper finally said goodbye to this world, Tony would soon follow her once he took care of those who had brought harm to his family for the past few years. If he was going to go down, just as they had promised themselves before, they would take everyone down with them.

"Tony?" she stared at him from the corner of her eye. "Is this the when and where?"

It took him a second to understand what she had just asked him, but once he knew what she had meant, all he could do was nod. It had been just two days ago that Pepper had asked him to be the one to end her life for her, and he had agreed to do just that. It was now – a day after they had visited their son's grave, that the redhead was entitled to the answers of those two questions she had asked in the past.

"I'll do it," he whispered with ache, his loyalty to her stronger than the burning sting of finality in his words. "But not now or here. It'll be just the two of us, away from everything, secluded. It'll be just between you and me, like it should be."

Pepper nodded to him to show her thanks and she then swallowed hard. "Where? When?"

"Not tonight," he said to her and began kissing her neck. "Tomorrow. I'll tell you… show you, tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" She closed her eyes.

"Why not?" He replied and she scoffed.

"Good point," she added after a pause.

He had promised to tell her about it yesterday, but he had opted to push it back another day.

"I'm glad I waited," she said with a smile and then grabbed his left hand. "It's the best place for it, too, I think."

"I'm sure there's something prettier deeper into it," he replied, almost absentmindedly, trying to ignore the fact that he knew exactly what his wife was talking about.

"Why don't we find out?" she offered.

"Really?" he asked, a single eyebrow raised. "Don't you want to rest first? We just got here."

"I'll have plenty of time to rest later," she said despite the grim implication of her words. "Right now, I just want to spend time with you exploring my island."

"Your island you're gonna rename before it's all over, right?"

"Perhaps," she said with a shrug and then extended her arms toward him. "Piggy back ride?"

"Of course," he said with a smile of his own and helped her move from the Pep Ride onto his back. Even without his super strength, he had always been able to carry her rather easily. Now that she was losing weight again, she was nearly light as a feather for him.

"Hold on tight, Pep."

"As long as it's with you," the ginger replied, rested her chin on his right shoulder, and made sure to surround his upper arms with her arms while not restricting his motion. On his end, Tony held onto her dangling legs by wrapping his arms under and around them, and kept himself from falling into the temptation of tickling the skin there. He then took his time leaving the beach and entering the thick foliage of the rest of the land, stopping only when he noticed the redhead admire a particular part of the trek.

Just as he had suspected, varied vegetation and fauna littered the place, but no other human soul except theirs was around. In between some of the small hills that surrounded the location, they found creeks, caves and even a small lagoon – a place where she asked for them to stop for now to enjoy the view up close.

"It's so quiet around here," she whispered, almost afraid of breaking the peacefulness of the scene. "It's so incredible to me to know that places like these still exist, considering how busy everything is back in New York."

"I know what you mean," he helped her rest her back against his chest. He had opted to rest his back against a tree for support, had placed the ginger in between his bent legs, and he now surrounded her upper torso with his arms. She felt so comfortable in his embrace like this, and if it were up to the inventor at all, he would have frozen this moment in time forever.

Frozen in time, he thought for a moment when Pepper busied herself closing her eyes and resting as well, the sweet lullabies of the birds nearby inviting her to sleep. His fingers ran up and down her skin. His lips brushed against the top of her head. But his mind was miles away, years ago, thinking back to the moment they had met in a different kind of jungle to the one they were in today.

They were still to have their first official date he had wanted them to have when young, and now he would only have a few days to make it happen for her. It was part of the reason why he had brought her here, to give her the moments and memories he was yet to provide to her. He would not be able to do for her everything he had always wanted them to be and have, but he at least wanted her last memories to be a pleasant contrast of what their lives had been so far.

"I love you, so much," he closed his eyes. "I wish there was a way for me to show you how much is so much."

"I think you've shown me that, many, many times, in so many different ways. You'll show me even more, very soon. In fact," she chuckled bitterly, "If push came to shove, Tony, I wouldn't be able to do for you what you'll do for me. So I think that, in a way, you do love me more than I love you."

"I think you would be able to," he kissed the top of her head, partly surprised at how nonchalantly they spoke about such a grim topic. "Even if just to defend yourself, I'm sure you'd hurt me to save your life. We all have limits, Pep."

"Not even then, I don't think," she sighed and opened her eyes. "Nick Fury was right on that. If it came to you going rogue, I'd be the first one you'd kill because I'd be the only one that wouldn't fight back like I should in that situation."

Tony furrowed his brow and opened his eyes as well.

"He told you that?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "When he arrested you for the Rhona issue and I went looking for you at the Helicarrier. He said… he said that he had to keep you there because he couldn't guarantee my safety otherwise. He said you were so unstable that you would kill me on the spot if you wanted to."

"He's full of shit."

"That's what I thought."

"Like I'd ever hurt you."

"I know. That's what I said."

"And even if I did… with the exception of this time… except when the time comes…"

"Yeah?"

"I mean," he exhaled. "It doesn't matter now, but if it had happened, Pepper. If I had lost my mind enough to hurt you… I… I trust you'd do whatever it takes to defend yourself. Even from me. Especially from me, actually."

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do it. I know I talk a lot, and I always say that I'd put on the armor and kick anyone's ass, but to you – to my family. I… there's no chance – no way in hell, I can ever do that. No matter how mad I am. No matter if my life is in danger."

"What about someone else's? How about Howie's?" he asked and she froze. "What if Howie was still alive and I wanted to hurt him? Would you attack me then?"

"I-I… I don't know."

"I would expect you to. I wouldn't want to survive that. I'd rather be dead than to be the one who brings him harm. Even if, well… even if I kinda already did by not realizing what was happening in front of me. Even then, I, well… I… I'd rather die knowing that you killed me to save yourself, Pepper, than to live knowing I was the one to... to..."

"But Tony," she closed her eyes once more. "You are going to–"

"Because you asked me to," he did not want to hear her say it. "And because I don't have to live with it for long. If we had another choice, I'd take it. If you weren't giving me permission and I did it, I'd hate myself forever."

"Which is why I wouldn't be able to do it to you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, either."

"Unless I gave you permission, which I have. Again, not that it matters anymore, but you could have always repulsor blasted me to hell if I'd laid a finger on you with the intention to harm you. It was always an option, Pep."

The redhead opened her eyes again, but only to grab his arms and hold on to them against her chest. She silently prayed that he would be able to carry out his final mission, and that he was able to find peace with it before too long. That would be her only regret after leaving this world: knowing that the possibility existed that Tony would never move on from doing to her what he had done to his enemies. That he would not make amends with himself before he took on S.H.I.E.L.D. on his own.

"I never thought it would end like this," she admitted, her body suddenly very tired. "I always thought we would grow old together, arguing about how you were too frail to put on the suit and fight."

"And I thought I would have to hide all jetpacks from you so that you wouldn't be able to leave me, ever."

The light chuckles that emanated from them soon turned into full bouts of laughter as they both pictured in their minds the comical images of an old Tony trying to put on the suit of armor while holding a walking cane and an oxygen tank, and an old Pepper trying to activate a jetpack by turning on a toaster in a stranger's kitchen. Tears of laughter followed as well, and when the silence finally surrounded them once more and reality hit them again, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts remembered that the next few days on Earth would be their last; camping near a lagoon on a deserted island suited them just fine.

xxxXXXxxx

She woke up when she felt she could not sleep anymore. She had been trying to avoid resting too much while the countdown of her last hours on the planet came near its end, but it had become increasingly difficult to keep her eyes open. She had tried to hide it from Tony, how exhausted she truly felt, but hours ago, she had been unable to keep up the charade and had finally passed out.

She stared at her pod to realize she had been conked out for nearly four hours, and that the side of the sleeping bag that belonged to Tony was cold. She was not even sure when she had fallen asleep, or even if he had napped with her. The last thing she remembered was the two of them sitting by the lagoon, talking about everything and nothing. Next thing she knew, she was waking up in their makeshift bed.

There was no doubt that the inventor had carried her back inside their tent, but she had no idea what he had done with himself in the time she had been asleep. She could only hope it was not something similar to what he had done the last time she had fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence, as he had spent two hours listing how he was going to make the World Security Council, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Nick Fury pay.

She was aware that she had very little influence on the matter, on what Tony did after she was gone, but she wished and prayed that amidst the chaos he was planning to unleash on those who had wronged him, that he found the time to forgive himself. She knew that he felt responsible for her impending death, just as he felt responsible for baby James's untimely demise. If anything were to go her way after she died, she hoped that it would be for his soul to free itself from the burden of guilt.

She did not need to look outside to know that the night had fallen. The darkness inside the tent was a good enough indicator that Tony would be coming back inside the tent soon to sleep. The man had been staying up with her as much as he could, taking in any moment he could get out of her, but she could see that it was wearing him out as well. Without Extremis in him for so long, his human limitations were starting to show. It brought tears to her eyes that, even when he knew what the outcome would be in the end, he was still trying to treat this as a vacation, or as much as he could make it to be.

Tonight was their last night together – they planned to be inducing her passing the next day. When she stood up from the sleeping bag, she took a step outside the tent. It was then that she realized that Tony was not going to let the prospect pass to make it a night she would never forget, even after life.

She held back a gasp when she saw the fire he had built near the tent. It was not so much that she had never seen a fire in the wild before, but it was the fact that it was not a usual color: the large, vivid flames were purple and silver – just as her Rescue outfit was. The tent had been moved from the lagoon to the beach once more (she could have sworn she had fallen asleep near the small body of water). And once her eyes began taking in the rest of the scene, she felt momentary regret for giving up on trying to save her life.

But she knew that there was nothing else to do – at least not anymore. They had already tried everything. Spoken to everyone (except S.H.I.E.L.D., whom they still believed had caused this). But nothing had worked. In fact, their attempts at healing her had only made her condition worsen.

The ground beneath her bare feet was littered with petals of different flowers she assumed were native to the island, the myriad of their colors contrasting perfectly with the blank canvas of the silky, white sand. The sound of the waves hitting the shore and rocks nearby reminded her of their first apartment by the Hudson River, and she again felt remorse; this time, for not ever spending some quality time at the bay they had lived in for nearly two years, many eons ago.

Had it really been that long? Had she and Tony performed the tiresome and time wasting back-and-forth dance of getting together and splitting up, for these many years? Why, in the name of all that was good on this fucking planet, had neither of them realized sooner that life was infinitesimally short? Why did tragedy after tragedy have to occur for them to realize how good they had it together – how miserable they were when apart?

It doesn't matter now, Pepper told herself in silence while she observed the last rays of the sun disappearing on the horizon. Tomorrow morning, nothing we ever did or didn't do will matter. I'll be gone forever, and Tony will be all alone. I'll be leaving him behind.

At least until they met in the afterlife, if there even was such a thing; and she hoped that there was. Perhaps, even their son would be there.

Even though her heart was breaking into a million pieces that would soon be washed into the ocean, she found it in her soul to smile. Tony had obviously gone to great lengths to make this time memorable for her, and the least she could do for him was to enjoy it as much as she humanly could. It was not the fact that he had bought her an island. It was not the fact that he had been pampering her 24/7. It was the simple things, such as using science to change the color of the fire to colors she loved, that made her want to show her immense gratitude to him.

She closed her eyes when she caught a whiff of the scent of lavender and another intermingled aroma she could not identify but already enjoyed, and before she opened her eyes again, she felt a set of arms embrace her upper body from behind, softly pinning her arms under it. She did not have to open her eyes to identify his cologne, and when he pressed his body behind hers and began slowly swaying their bodies together from side to side, the ginger knew what he had in mind for tonight.

The music in the background began playing slowly, almost inaudibly so, but since it was just the two of them for miles and miles around the small piece of land, she could hear the faint sounds of a gently building melody she loosely remembered she had once heard playing in Tony's lab, but to which she had not paid much attention. The lyrics took a moment to appear, and by the time the first verse was echoing in their own small world, the inventor had begun sliding his nose and lips up and down the left side of her neck, humming the tune with leisure and whispering random parts of the stanzas to her ear.

Still feels like our first night together
Feels like the first kiss, it's gettin' better, baby
No one can better this...
Still holdin' on, you're still the one

He half-turned her in place until she was facing him, each other's eyes finding the other's lips rather than their gazes and remaining there. He held her by the waist again, although only by the sides and under her blouse this time; his thumbs on the front and the rest of his fingers on her back, all five tantalizing the skin there. He pulled her to his chest, still not acknowledging anything other than the words of the song he had chosen for tonight, and he then pressed the left side of his face against her right side.

First time our eyes met, same feelin' I get
Only feels much stronger, wanna love you longer
You still turn the fire on...
So if you're feelin' lonely ‒ don't
You're the only one I ever want.
I only wanna make it good
So if I love you a little more than I should...

"Please forgive me. I know not what I do," he sang into her ear, and his breath and tone made her skin crawl. "Please forgive me. I can't stop lovin' you."

Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through...

"Please forgive me," he continued with the playing of the lyrics and kissed her cheek before continuing the song. "If I need you like I do."

Please believe me, every word I say is true...
Please forgive me I can't stop loving you

Taking advantage of the short break in lyrics, Tony leaned down to her face and kissed her long enough for the music-only portion of the song to end. He then pulled back his face and stared deeply into her eyes as the song continued.

Still feels like our best times are together.
Feels like the first touch, still gettin' closer, baby
Can't get close enough.
Still holdin' on, you're still number one

"I remember the smell of your skin," he again ran the tip of his nose down her face. "I remember everything. I remember all your moves," he smirked playfully at that. "I remember you, yeah! I remember the nights, you know I still do."

So if you're feelin' lonely ‒ don't
You're the only one I ever want.
I only wanna make it good
So if I love you a little more than I should...
Please forgive me ‒ I know not what I do.
Please forgive me ‒ I can't stop lovin' you
Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through.
Please forgive me if I need you like I do
Oh, believe me ‒ every word I say is true.
Please forgive me ‒ I can't stop loving you.

When the bridge of the song began playing, Tony lifted his redhead from the ground and made it so that she had no option but to cling onto him. Her arms surrounded his neck, her head ended slightly towering over his, and she wrapped her legs around his hips. He secured her stance by holding her lower back firmly against him, and he began alternating between kissing her and singing the song to her.

"One thing I'm sure of, is the way we make love. And one thing I depend on, is for us to stay strong. With every word and every breath I'm prayin'. That's why I'm sayin'..."

The redhead listened to the rest of the lyrics, tears running down her cheeks while the inventor began slowly directing her to a blanket he had laid on the sand. This was the best way to spend her last day on Earth, and she had Tony to thank for it – just as she always did and always had.

xxxXXXxxx

Rain, rain: go away.
Come again another day.

The sudden dip the Stark jet took woke up the inventor from his deep slumber. As his eyes snapped open, another more pronounced dip made his senses become fully alert. The abrupt movement made some of the items in the aircraft fall onto the floor from the shelves in the small bedroom located at the back of the plane, and the blue-eyed boy had to fight for stability himself as well.

"Shit."

He rubbed his face with his hands, stole a glance at Pepper lying next to him on the mattress, and then stood up from the bed, balancing himself as much as possible amidst the now constant up-and-down of the craft. The end of their vacation had been cut short due to an incoming tropical storm; leaving before it fell had been the only choice to avoid being stranded on the island. It now appeared, however, as if the storm had followed them anyway, and it was attempting to further disturb their plans.

Everything had been ready for Tony to deliver the final blow to his redhead near the lagoon, but Jonas had shown up unexpectedly to warn the duo about the storm. After much deliberation, Tony and Pepper had decided to alter their plans. They had called it quits on their getaway, leaving them to relocate the place and time to use Tony's own version of a lethal injection on the redhead to their own home. It bought him more time with her, he had selfishly thought, and it also saved him from a headache when it came to transferring the body back home.

The body; her body. He still could not believe he was going to kill his own wife.

Wobbling and grabbing onto whatever was nearby, Tony exited the small bedroom area and joined the common room that separated the cockpit from the bedroom. He strained his eyes to try to see anything past his own body, but the only light that was currently present came in the form of sporadic lightning bolts hitting outside. Everything seemed eerily quiet inside the jet despite the roaring storm, and just when he thought that his ears had been deceiving him when he had first woken up, he heard the same, vaguely familiar voice sing again.

Rain, rain: go away.
Come again another day.

For an instant, the billionaire wondered if Pepper was playing tricks on him, but the voice did not sound feminine at all. Moreover, the redhead could barely speak when they had left the island, hours ago, and he doubted she wanted a stupid prank to be the last thing she did while alive. He was aware that she knew how difficult this situation was for him already; pranking him with creepy songs in the middle of a stormy night simply did not fit her style.

Rain, rain: go away.
Come again another day.

Tony narrowed his eyes and tried to follow the voice to find its origin, but the overlapping sounds from the outside made it difficult to pinpoint what noises belonged to the storm, which ones to the jet, and which to his own jittering innards. The shaking of the jet was only worsening by the minute, making it practically impossible to tell which way was up and which way was down, and he eventually realized he did not care enough to find out more about the voice. After a few seconds of deliberation, Tony abandoned his search for the owner of the creepy singsong voice and opted to make a beeline for the cockpit to speak to his aviator instead.

"Jonas," Tony began as soon as he slid the door open and stuck his head inside. "What the hell is going on?"

"Storm, sir," the old pilot replied in his heavy Texan accent, his eyes staring directly into the darkness of the pelleting water on the glass. "Sneaky, little cotton picker t'rned 'round at the last second. She's right be'ind us."

"How close is it to us?"

"I reck'n close enough for ya'll to want to say your Hail Mary's and the Lord's Prayer, but far 'nough away to be gone faster than my cousin Wanda can empty a bucket of biscuits."

"And," the inventor narrowed his eyes, "How fast, do you reckon, can your cousin Wanda acquire diabetes from that bucket?"

"About half an hour, sir. You and the Missus gonna be a'right?"

"Think so. Pepper hasn't even been woken up by it."

"Ya don't say? With all this ruckus?" Jonas replied. "She naps like my cousin Rudolph did when he was run over by his tractor, may he rest in peace."

"What do you mean?" Tony took a step back, his heart rate suddenly rising at the suggestion of Jonas's words.

"I mean that the Missus musta have some real heavy sleeping habits! I've had to adjust the cabin pressure twice. Made my ears pop like a badly prepped chicken in the ov'n."

"I felt that," Tony stated as he recalled that he had briefly woken up to rub his ears when they had hurt for no apparent reason. He had gone back to sleep almost immediately after it, and had not thought much about it until now.

"Alright, Jonas," Tony said with finality. "I'll leave you to it."

"Alright, sir. You sit tight. We'll be out of it 'fore you know it."

"Thanks."

Tony closed the sliding door to the cockpit, and then turned around to stare at the common area once more. Every electronic device in the room was off, save for an alarm clock radio he had left there to not be disturbed by it in their room. The bright red numbers bled into the pitch dark room, almost calling out to him, daring him to pick it up. He took one step forward, stopped when the jet shook again, and then resumed his pace towards the clock when the turbulence was not as prominent. When he had the alarm clock in his hand, he heard the song one more time.

Rain, rain: go away.
Come again another day.

The song was definitely coming from the radio speaker on the side of alarm clock – as was the time. But the device was disconnected.

"How the hell?"

The inventor double-checked that the alarm clock was unplugged from the outlet. He knew for a fact that it did not contain any batteries – there was not even a place to store any. He shook the device a few times, held it to his right ear, and heard the song again.

Rain, rain: go away.
Tony Stark dies today.

Tony dropped the clock radio immediately and ran toward the bedroom.

"Pepper!"

He did not even bother to close the door behind him; his only goal to kneel on the floor on her side of the bed. The redhead was yet to move an inch from where she had been lying when he had first left the room, and when the words of his pilot regarding the ginger's sleeping habits returned to him, Tony's eyes filled with tears.

"Pepper. Pepper, please wake up. Pepper, please. Please…"

But the woman did not move. She did not even flinch. In fact, she was not even breathing at all.

"NO!"

He pulled and threw the covers to the floor, crawled on top of the bed, and cradled her limp upper body in his arms. His hands were shaking as he moved away strands of red hair on her face. When his warm skin felt the clammy coldness of her body, Tony Stark began to sob. It was just as when he had found her in that submarine thanks to Gene's help, cold and sweaty and unconscious, but she had been alive then. Today, he had no such luck.

"Pepper," he said between cries of pain. "Pepper, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Once again, S.H.I.E.L.D. had won. S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken his son in his sleep, and it had now also taken his wife while she lay next to him. He had failed her. He had failed to be the one who took her life away, just as she had asked of him, and forever it would be known that Nick Fury and his pack of puppet-like agents had the last laugh. Pepper Potts-Stark was dead by their hand. His Pepper was no more.

"Pep," he pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry, Pep. I… I wasn't fast enough. I… I… I should've–"

The jet shook for the nth time, but Tony no longer cared if they braved their storm or not. He had two backup suits of armor in the closet of their room. If worse came to worse, he would put one of them on Jonas for him to make his escape, and he would then take the other to get himself and Pepper's body out of the plane.

Her body, he clenched his eyes and teeth. Her body… because she's dead!

Their safety no longer concerned him. His vengeance did.

He kissed her face all over, whispered to her how much he loved her, and apologized a million times for letting her down, even in death. He simply could not believe how unexpected it had been, how unprepared he truly had been for it, despite how much he knew it had been coming all along. His redhead, his friend, his wife – his beloved – was now far away from his reach. Farther than she had been when she had been kidnapped by Whitney. Farther away than she had been when she had woken up after almost dying, not knowing who she was and not knowing him. Farther than all the other times her life had been in danger because of him.

"Pepper," he said after a sniffle. "I'll take care of S.H.I.E.L.D. for you. This promise I won't break. This… I… Pepper…"

His voice suddenly betrayed him, but what more was there to say? They had spent the last three days in each other's company, telling and showing each other how much they meant for one another. He had given her a relaxing place to live for a few days. He had given her that camping first-date he had always wanted to provide for her. They had made love under the stars, on the beach and near a fire, and he had sung to her while dancing their last song together. What more could he had done for her? What more could he have said to her?

I could've saved you, he told himself. I could've barged into S.H.I.E.L.D. and demanded a cure… I could've saved your life instead of giving up! I could've traded my life for yours!

His life for hers.

Coulda. Shoulda. Woulda.

It was over now.

Tears still streaming down his face, Tony carefully placed the redhead to rest in the middle of the bed. He combed her hair with his fingers, laced her hands on top of her stomach, and then covered her body up to her chest with the blanket he had previously thrown on the floor. He adjusted the pillows under her head even though he knew it did not make any difference, kissed her lips one last time, and took a step back to stand by the foot of the bed. He stared at his ginger's motionless form for a moment, closed his eyes after an instant, and then hung his head, ashamed that he was not sure how to proceed now.

What else was there to do? He could not call his family for it yet; they had agreed that he would wait until her body was back at home to relay the news to everyone. No one knew of Pepper's health issue; they hardly knew or understood Tony's as it was, so neither of them had seen any point in worrying their families for what they could not do anything about: for what they had a difficult time believing and understanding themselves.

Perhaps Jonas would like to say a prayer for her? Perhaps the man knew what the religiously-appropriate procedure for a recently deceased person was? The inventor himself did not know any holy rites, and even if Pepper had not actively sought out to fulfill the doctrinaire details of organized religion, the genius was aware that she had once in a while relied on the spiritual support provided by theological faith to find strength in times of need. All he had ever relied upon other than science was her, and she was not there to support him anymore.

She was gone. As quickly as she had come into his life, she was gone. Just as his son had left him, too.

When he opened his eyes again, he realized that he was no longer alone. He could not immediately tell who it was, but from the corner of his right eye and his current erect position by the foot of the bed, he could tell someone was standing outside the door of the bedroom. The lights were yet to come back on inside the jet, and the storm was yet to calm down one notch, but the presence near him was as overpowering as his need to have Pepper back in his life the instant he had realized she had died in her sleep.

Tony knew of only one person to have such a heavy aura – heavy enough for someone such as himself, a person who relied on science, to feel it burning his skin. He had actually not heard from him in a while, so his presence in his jet was as unexpected as the fact that he was not in his human form but in his full fighting getup.

"Gene," Tony half-turned to his right to face the armored man. "You're too late," he wiped tears from his face. "She's gone."

"I'm not here for that," Mandarin replied after a brief second of silence and Tony frowned at how cold the Mandarin's tone sounded. Had Gene even been aware that Pepper was dying? How did he even know she was now dead? How did he even know where to find them, in the middle of the ocean, for that matter? Had Pepper called him before she had died? Had she texted him before she took her last breath? Was Gene here to make sure Tony carried out his promise to her of avenging her death?

No. She promised she wouldn't tell anyone. Not even Gene.

Tony's eyes landed on his redhead for a second. When he returned his attention to the Mandarin, he realized that his hands were glowing so brightly that they almost blinded him. He then noticed that pieces of the radio that had scared the shit out of him, just minutes before, were lying on the floor of the jet by the Mandarin's feet.

"Gene," Tony gulped and took a step towards the common area as he tried to shield his eyes with his left hand from the increasingly bright light coming from Gene's armored fists. "What are you doing here?"

Gene did not immediately respond, but he did raise his right palm and aimed it towards a shocked billionaire, making Tony stop in his tracks.

"Gene," the genius insisted. "What are you doing here?"

This time, Gene Khan did verbally respond, and the moment his answer left his lips, Tony knew what was to come. He finally pieced together Nick Fury's ultimate plan.

"Fulfilling the bounty, Stark."

And with those final words, the Stark private jet was blown to Kingdom Come.

xxxXXXxxx

His eyes were staring into the graves before him, but he refused to believe what he was witnessing. His ears heard the loud, inconsolable cries of family and friends behind him, but he ignored said evidence as well. His skin on his face felt the dampness of his never-ending tears, but he did not want to acknowledge even them. He did not want to believe. He rejected the notion to believe. It was impossible, unbelievable, that his two friends – his only real friends in the world, were gone.

And yet the news was still everywhere for anyone to see, as had been the case for the past week: Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were dead. Blown to pieces by their exploding jet in the middle of a storm. Their body parts scattered throughout land and sea; pieced together by their own armored suits when the emergency alarm had been set off. The armors had only been following protocol to find their masters in the case of a crisis – the armors did not know how chilling it was to retrieve pieces of their bodies instead.

"Son," David Rhodes told the new agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. as he rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's time. They're waiting for you."

Rhodey's eyes traveled from the tombstones with his friends' names engraved on them to his father's saddened ones. He licked his lips, scrunched the paper he had in his hands, but nodded in acceptance of his duty. He had been given many opportunities to back out of it, if he did not feel up to it. But a man in his profession never backed out of a challenge – let alone from doing his friends one last favor: telling their story to the world.

At the insistence of the media, and their threat of making the funeral and burial a money-making scheme, Howard and Virgil had allowed a few selected reporters to attend the ceremonies. So far, the newscasters had kept their word and had been as discreet as possible in reporting the events as they unfolded. Rhodey had not even wanted them there in the first place, but once it dawned on him that this was the last time he was going to see and speak to his friends, he immediately stopped caring if the media wanted to make this a front-page news affair. James Rhodes was not going to let less-than-professional, half-assed, quick-buck-seeking journalists ruin his last moments with his friends.

In slow steps, he walked down the aisle of the moderately-sized burial site, which was jam-packed with mourners from all over the place. It was common knowledge that Team Iron Man had touched many souls and had saved many lives. But it was not until flowers and other sympathy arrangements surrounded their coffins that anyone truly realized the impact Tony and Pepper had had in people's everyday lives. They had, in their own peculiar way, affected every person they had come across, and no amount of crying, kind words or actions would ever equate to the risks the duo took for the sake of saving the world.

In the front rows of the sitting area were Virgil, Howard, Trish, Diane, Jarvis, Bambi, Happy, Roberta, David and Loretta. Rhodey recognized some of the other faces nearby: Nurse Owen, some members of the SI board, Loraine Jones, Happy's parents, and Gene Khan standing in the back; but James Rhodes was too tired and distraught to care enough to thank them for being here. He did not care who else was here; no one's presence made a difference. The fact of the matter was that Tony and Pepper had left this world, and he had not even been present to help them out. He had failed them. With all the weapons, technology and intelligence he had had at his disposition while working at S.H.I.E.L.D., he had still failed them in the end.

Rhodey walked up the stairs of the platform and reached the podium. He took the crumpled piece of paper he had carried with him for three days now, stretched it in his hands without further tearing it and then rested it on the top portion of the pedestal where the microphone stood. With his right hand, he straightened out the paper as much as possible, and when his eyes lifted to stare at the grievers waiting for him to state his eulogy, he felt the stubborn knot in his throat come back.

His gaze found the paper once more, the words losing all meaning and shape amidst the fresh tears that filled his eyes. How he had expected to do this with a straight face was beyond him. How he thought he could make it easier on him by just reading off a paper was utterly disgusting now. Nothing would make this easy for him. Nothing at all. Not his War Machine experience. Not his Air Force training or his S.H.I.E.L.D. induction time. Nothing. Absolutely nothing could make this speech easier on his broken heart and wounded soul.

But he was going to speak for them. He was going to speak for his friends. Of that much he was sure.

He neatly folded the paper one last time and dug it inside his pants pocket, near his recently upgraded and personalized Stark Pod that Tony had given him as his college graduation present to replace the one he had received during Thanksgiving, years ago. He then cleared his throat of the knot of agony he had developed when he had first heard the tragic news, wiped his eyes with the back of his hands, pulled the microphone to his lips, and without thinking what he was going to say, he said the first thing that crossed his mind.

"Today's Pepper's birthday. And this year, Tony got her an island as his present for her for it."

The young man snickered bitterly, scratched his upper lip with his right hand, and then put his left hand inside the left pocket of his Air Force-issued uniform.

"Tony never knew what was too much. He was always in some sort of weird competition with himself. Last year, he built her a jetpack for her birthday, so I guess an island was the only thing he thought would top it off."

A few sad chuckles were heard in the crowd, and another handful of nods accompanied Rhodey's before he continued his speech.

"Tony, he… I thought he'd never learn to receive. He always gave and gave. Even as Iron Man, he always did give stuff away. I used to think that he just gave things away because he was rich and had too much lying around… and that's probably one of the reasons why he gave. But as we grew up together, I realized that he gave because he could – because he wanted to. Because life had taken away from him so much when growing up, that he wanted to keep others from giving up what they didn't want to give. What he had already given up himself."

Rhodey took a deep breath, stared from one grave to the other, and then stared at Virgil Potts himself.

"And then came Pepper," he paused. "And she just took and took. She took from her father information that she was not supposed to have to help Iron Man. She took from me my patience to make me do things I didn't want to do, but that I should have done anyway. She took from Tony his inability to socialize, his inability to care for himself when he worked himself to sleep. She… she took from him his inability to receive what he gave himself: affection, devotion, protection… love… She… she just took it! She took it all away, wrapped it in brighter, better things and gave it back to him, for him to actually enjoy. She made Tony really live his life. They made a new life together… and he just couldn't believe his good luck!"

Rhodey's eyes shifted from staring at Virgil Potts to staring at James Howard Stark's grave, neatly placed between his father's and mother's graves, and after swallowing hard and again clearing his throat, he talked some more.

"Pepper and Tony grew together, fought together, cried together and laughed together. And as luck would have it, they also died together. I don't… I don't think they planned that last part, but I'm sure that if they could've they'd have planned that too. Well, Pepper would've made Tony plan it with her. Tony was never the planner of the two, really. He was more of a firm believer of the Ready, Fire, Aim philosophy. Pepper was the strategic one, ironically enough. But it didn't matter if Tony was or wasn't something, because Tony was as much a part of Pepper's life as she was to his… and they were both as much of a part of mine as I was to them."

Rhodey let his words sink in while he gathered yet another round of courage and kept on. It was excruciating for him to talk about his friends in this way, especially after they had just gotten back together after he had been away in school for so long. He felt a little bit of a hypocrite, to say the least, stating that they were his best friends when they had hardly had the time to hang around when he had returned back in May. But even when the distance had physically separated them for years, in the end they had still been his best friends in the world.

"I don't have blood-related brothers or sisters, only close friends, so I can't compare the two. I doubt I can tell anyone who does have the two, siblings AND friends, that their relationships with their siblings are less valid than mine because I chose who I wanted to socialize with. But I can say that Tony was my brother… and-and Pepper was my sister… and that when they… when they… when they… died, I lost them both as friends and as my family."

Rhodey's voice began to break, and with it the cries became louder in the crowd.

"And very few people in the world know how that feels… and I can only think of one more person that feels the same way I do, right now."

Rhodey's eyes landed on Happy's red ones and the two men exchanged a silent nod that spoke volumes even to people who were not sure about whom the jock was. To the masses, Harold Hogan had been Pepper Potts's bodyguard for years. To family and friends, Happy had been the annoying little brother she, Tony, and Rhodey never had.

"Last time Tony and Pepper redid their will to remove little James from it, the two of them wrote final words for each other," Rhodey began and took out the almost forgotten piece of paper from his pants one more time. "The idea was that if Tony passed before Pepper did, I would read this to her on his behalf. And if Pepper passed first, I'd read Pepper's words for him on her behalf. Turns out, those two jerks left us at the same time. So now I have to read them both. Thanks for that, guys!"

The moment was bittersweet, but Rhodey and the guests were able to find some humor in his broken words. He had stopped caring about his tear-stricken face a long time ago. If he did not know any better, he would have sworn that the cascading waterworks were giving him the strength he needed to finish up his eulogy for them.

"I'll read Pepper's first," Rhodey said, cleared his throat and faced Tony's grave. "Tony: Don't shoot the messenger. Rhodey didn't want to do this, but he lost a bet and it was either this, or he had to take my cousin Ana out on a date. If you're here, Ana, sorry! You missed out!"

Rhodey could not help but laugh at the introduction of the words, even if he had read them a million times before today. They were just so Pepper-like, that he could almost hear her saying the words through him.

"Anyway. If you're hearing this, Tony, it's because my time's run out. I hope it wasn't sudden and I hope it wasn't tragic. I guess I can hope it wasn't anything I didn't want it to be, but I know that, in the end, we never choose how we want to die. We can only choose how we want to live. And if there's anything you should take from today, from saying goodbye to me, it's that I chose to live my life with you, and that I don't regret doing that. Even when you drove me crazy. Even when I wanted to smack you upside the head, I still loved you. I'm sure even now I do. I still looked forward to being with you, and I was never able to picture my life without you by my side. I know you'll be mad, sad and even a little bit pissed off, but don't be like that for long. You still have lots to give to the world, Tony. You still have a world to change. And if you ever need me or feel lonely, just stop by. And for once, I promise I will only listen; not talk."

Rhodey then shifted his position ever so slightly to stare at Pepper's grave, put away the paper back into his pocket, announced that he would now read Tony's statement, and said aloud the only line Tony had written for him to say.

"It was all your doing, Pep."

The words had been short and simple, just as Tony's information relaying had always been when alive, and Rhodey did not care that half of the mourners did not understand the significance of Tony's message for Pepper. The message had been written for her to understand, not for the rest of the world to dissect. If she had been here, if she had been alive, she would have felt the void left in Rhodey's own heart at hearing Tony's message for her and at how it perfectly replied to her own after-life message for the genius. She would have definitely appreciated the depth of his words, just as those who truly knew the inventor and the redhead, currently felt.

Rhodey finally backed slowly away from the podium and walked off the platform to stand near his friends' graves to end his speech.

"See you again, someday, Tony," Rhodey said and threw the first fistful of dirt on Tony's grave, followed by the fistful on the ginger's adjacent place of burial. "And you, too, Pepper."

And with those words, Rhodey's world came crumbling down again, just as it had the first time he had learned of the fate of the inventor and the redhead – just as it always did when he realized that his friends were no more.


A/N: So, who do guys think will win the next Super Bowl? *shifty eyes* No? Not in the mood for chitchat? Uh… well, OK. I think I will take this opportunity to quote The Joker from one of the trailers to Batman: Arkham City:

"We're coming to the end, aren't we? When you see what I've been planning all along… you'll just die!"