A/N: How many of you do think Pepper and Scott will get married? I think ebbs-imagination has it right: Pepper loves Tony too much :D
Guest Reviews Responses
pepperony4evah: Just put the two of them together on a bed, half drunk, no disturbances in the middle and they'll do the rest! No Scott no Maya after that. It's as simple as that. Don't make the story drag along too far. It only gives heartattacks, suffocations and near deaths for us readers . Even after them having sec, you'll have plenty to go on. Heart attacks? You're not sending me the bill for it, right? Right? Errr…XD No Scott and no Maya? That's coming very soon; in fact some of it is going to happen in the next story ^_^ If it helps, The Second Year (the sequel to this) is the LOWEST point for Pepperony. After that, you're gonna want me to pay for your diabetes treatment you're going to get because of how unbelievably sweet the story is going to get (PLENTY to go on XD).
Tratando de proteger la salud de mi corazón, he decidido no leer el resto de los capítulos de tu fict hasta que finalices. REALMENTE sufro con tu historia. Has logrado engancharme en cada situación, y aunq sé que no todo tiene que ser color de rosa, tampoco todo puede ser sufrimiento. Amo tu historia y sé que el sufrimiento no será gratuito, pero el suspenso es demasiado para mi corazón y no se puede mantener tanto tiempo en tensión sin que algo se quiebre. Soy cobarde lo admito. Mientras tanto me entretendré leyendo tus revisiones. Nunca pares de escribir! Bsos Awww! I'm so sorry! I really am :( I know I'm very mean sometimes, but just like you said, it won't be in vain. In fact, I suggest that you wait until The Second Year is completely posted, read it all together, nonstop, and then go be happy with The Third Year. I'm halfway done with TTY, and TFY will also be a lot of fluff. I hope to see you there!
please don't say that scott and pepper will end up marrying...:( I don't want to spoil it! BUT, you will find out the real deal in the Epilogue of The Second Year.
Just as a reminder to everyone. My standard disclaimer is: My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;)
Chapter 8: May
He had thrown up.
Tony Stark had been sick to his stomach at hearing Pepper make a decision that was going to change their lives and he had just lost it.
He had ran to the closest facilities in the hospital in which Pepper was being treated – thus missing the important and clarifying details of her response, and he had just thrown up the very little food he had managed to chow down that morning when Maya had insisted he ate something. He had been mostly awake for days, waiting for Pepper to wake up, nodding off here and there, and had been doing nothing more than pacing back and forth in her room – even if it had driven Scott Summers mad by it.
He had even forgotten about his birthday – again!
And the tickets that Maya had given him, that he just knew had actually been Pepper's idea, had made him feel that much more of an asshole for arguing with her about time. Arguing. About time. And about the fact that he had wanted to prepare for their mission, and how jealous he was of Scott, and he had not even covered the fact that he wanted to end it with Maya, once and for all, so that he could be with Pepper and send the jock running back to whatever hole he had come from.
He had been berating himself for not being there with her, for not protecting her, for her leaving her safety to the damned sunglasses-obsessed man. Even if he had not known she was in danger, even if she had kept him in the dark about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s emergency, he should have been the one battling the zombie invasion with her; it should have been him and not…
Not Pepper's fiancé.
Suddenly, he felt like throwing up again.
Even now, two weeks after hearing them talk about it – and her not telling him anything of it – and after hearing her pour her heart out to Scott at finding out he was alive, Tony still could not digest the words; the implication – the reality of it all. He could still hear her, clear as day, when she had said the words that had sent him over the edge and had nearly given him a heart attack in the fucking corridor right outside her hospital room.
"And yes," she said. "I will marry you, Scott."
The thought alone made his throat close and his heart ache; the same feelings he had felt every morning since then. The same feelings that made it difficult for him to get up from bed, go to work, or talk to and even see his own girlfriend; the same feelings that made him want to call this whole thing off and just walk up to the ginger and tell her the truth.
Married, he clenched his eyes. She's going to marry him.
The idea was just ludicrous to him. Was it not too soon or too quick to be thinking about that? Were they really moving forward that fast? Yes, Scott had given her a ring, and they had dated for eight months now, and if it were them dating, Tony would have brought up the possibility of a future marriage by now, but her and Scott…
It just doesn't make sense with him. Pepper and I, we've known each other for years… and they… they…
They had survived a near-death experience.
As did we! Several times!
Was that the only reason Pepper had agreed to marry Scott, out of guilt? Was that also why the inventor was practically obsessed with the ginger, because he felt guilty about what had happened to her because of her ties with him? Was he just experiencing a taste of his own disease? Or were the powers that be just that hilariously ironic about his life?
No, the told himself firmly. I loved her before that, and I still do.
He exhaled slowly, feeling his eyes sting again. He had to keep it together. He had to keep his cool, especially today. She needed him levelheaded. She needed him alert to the max. Today was the big day. This was the day they had been dutifully preparing for, for months, and yet all he could think about was the mockery that was his life. He had told Rhodey he could do it, multiple times he had assured anyone who doubted him that he could be there for the ginger in any capacity she needed. Now that his worst fear had become true, however, he had been reduced to a pathetic, suffering, love-struck boy who wanted nothing more than to eat his own words.
"I'll help her recover what she lost. I'll help her get her life back."
"Do you think that's for the best? Don't you think she's better off not knowing how she ended up like this?"
"I don't know," Tony admitted as he watched the thinning crowd of the burial happening across the street. "But she deserves to remember that I care about her, and that I'm sorry for what I did to her. She deserves to know she's not alone."
"Even if she decides not to be alone by being with someone else other than you?"
Tony's lips thinned with Rhodey's question. The inventor was not unaware that Pepper's life could take a different turn now, including falling in love with someone else – and he had to let that happen. After what she had been put through, Tony had accepted that if she decided to see him as nothing more than just a friend for the rest of her new life, he was going to suck it up and help her go through with whatever she wanted to do about the two of them.
And what she wanted to do about them was remain friends, stop being roommates in two months, and possibly then even have him play best man to the guy he hated more than anyone else on the planet; the guy that was taking her away from him. The guy that had proven, time and time again – even though he had not known there had been an unofficial test on the part of the young genius – that he could take care of the ginger as much, or more, than the inventor ever could.
That had to be a plus, right?
"Tony?" he heard her call from the other side of the door, along with a light knock. "Time's up. Can I come in?"
He wiped his eyes and grabbed a tissue to blow his nose. "Yeah, come in."
The door to his bathroom opened and the redhead walked in, just that she was no longer a redhead – she was a brunette again. She was wearing a bathrobe while her recently dyed hair dried, and as she approached him to help him with his own hair dye, she noticed the redness in his eyes.
"Fumes getting to you again?"
He just nodded. He had told her the hair dye made his eyes itch. And while it was partly true, that had been his lame excuse for the pathetic tears that had escaped him when she had been dying her hair in the bathroom. He had sat in a chair in there with her, and he had just watched her work while he thought about losing her to Scott. It was also his excuse now for his second set of pitiful tears while she came around to help him with their makeover for their mission tonight.
"Hopefully, it's the last time we do this, right?" she smiled at him. He stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and dragged it to the sink. He allowed her to adjust the chair so that it aligned with the basin of the vanity and he then sat in it again, his face staring up at the ceiling.
"Lift your head," she said and he complied, and under his neck she laid a rolled hand towel so that whatever water dripped down from the rinsing she was about to give his hair, did not run down to his neck and back or wet his clothes. She took her time adjusting his head position until she was happy with the results, and it was only then that she opened the faucet and began adjusting the water temperature for the rinse. She had brought a small container from the kitchen to help her wash away the surplus of dye from his hair, but she needed the water temperature to be just right before she could start.
"You know, this would've been much easier and comfortable for you if we'd just hired a stylist to do this for us."
"I know," he said, his eyes staring into nothingness. "But that may have raised some flags and make us look suspicious."
That and he had wanted for her run to her fingers through his hair.
Pathetic? Shameful? Desperate? Yes, yes and yes.
"True," she said and began washing his hair.
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the light scalp massage she gave him that he was certain was not necessary for removing the excess dye, but he did not care. If she told him that, as part of the procedure to get ready, he had to watch her put on makeup or break in her high-heeled shoes for her, he would do so rather happily. At this point, he would take anything he could, counting down the seconds to lose her to the Maggia, recover her, and then lose her to Scott Summers; and forever, to the man.
"Don't move," she told him when he fidgeted with the dreadful thoughts and he felt her position shift. Instead of standing on the floor by his side she was now adjusting her position so that her bent left leg rested on the edge of the chair, next to his own leg, and her right foot was planted on the floor. Half of her lower body towered over his lap and, in her bent position, her front was practically on his face. The bathrobe was thick enough to cover everything and make it seem as if there was more distance between them than there really was, and even though he should have just closed his eyes again, he just stared up at her as she worked.
Her eyes denoted her deep concentration as she carefully worked each group of hairs. She repeatedly rinsed a spot until the water came out clear and she then moved on to the next spot. She continued to adjust her position above him as she worked her way around his head, and before she gave him one final rinse, she chuckled and held his hair between her fingers.
"You need a haircut, Mr. Stark."
"And a shave," he said and wrinkled his nose when his overgrown beard tickled his upper lip. "Why is James so hairy?"
"Why is Claire getting kidnapped?" she retorted without missing a beat and he flinched.
"Point taken," he responded and she giggled at her win.
"In fact, it'd be nice if we don't make the month of May into Kidnap Pepper Month."
"What?"
"Well, think about it: around this time last year, Whitney took me on that… excursion to the South Pole. And now the Maggia's going to take me somewhere else. How about next year someone just kidnaps me to the Bahamas, with my permission?"
"I can do that for you," he said with a small smile, his tone somewhere between amused and sad. He then frowned, closed his eyes and changed his tone. "Pepper, you know that, if I could've done anything different—"
She briefly covered his mouth with her left hand, prompting him to open one eye to stare at her and she gave him an apologetic smile.
"I know, Tony. I'm just teasing."
"I'm not. In fact," he began, closed his eyes and inhaled. "I wonder if next year the one doing the kidnapping will be Scott."
"Scott?" her head recoiled in confusion as she began lathering Tony's hair with the special shampoo she had ordered to make the color set in quicker. This time, Tony's dye was not the 24-hour type, as they were almost 100% certain that the Maggia would strike tonight, so they had wanted to make sure his undercover identity was present throughout the mission. They had even made arrangements for the two CEO's of Stark Solutions to be out for the next couple of weeks, citing they needed a vacation.
"Why would he kidnap me?"
"To take you on your honeymoon, I would think."
Pepper's hands stopped moving for a moment and her eyes widened in surprise. She then cleared her throat and continued with her task, pretending his words had not shaken her.
"I don't know what you mean."
Tony frowned again. "Are we not going to talk about it?"
"About what?"
"Come on, Pepper. I heard you two talking at the hospital. I know you're marrying him."
Pepper took in a deep breath, slowed down her movements in his hair but did not stop. She then gulped, licked her lips, sighed and cleared her throat again, but did not say another word. Tony gave her a few more minutes to compose herself, hoping she would make this conversation less difficult than it already was, but when she continued to work in silence, he sighed and spoke again.
"Did you not want me to know? Or is it supposed to be a secret or surprise?"
"I... I don't want to talk about it."
"Why?"
"Because it's between Scott and me."
"Actually, I think it involves me a little bit, too."
She scoffed and began rinsing the shampoo from his hair in preparation to use the conditioner, the only thing that was keeping her from fidgeting or running out of the room.
"Really? How do you figure?"
"Well, I'd like to know if my best friend is getting married, for starters. And, of course, I'd also like to know if my co-CEO is taking an extended leave to get married. And, not to mention, I'd also need to make plans for Rescue to be out for a while, you know? I need to know when and for how long I'll need to hold the fort on my own until you come back."
"Tony," she sighed and began putting the conditioner in his hair. "We, uhm, I-I'm too young to get married just yet. This conversation is moot."
"Are you telling me that to shut me up or is that what you told him to retract your answer to him?"
"I-I didn't retract my answer."
"So, you're just trying to shut me up."
"No, I'm not. I just, well… I just don't want to talk about it."
"In other words: you just don't care about my opinion."
"I do care about your opinion, Tony," she said and began rinsing the conditioner off his hair. She knew she should have let it soak a little bit longer for its full effectiveness to be present, but she was getting ready to disappear from the inventor's bathroom, any second now.
"But not enough to care about how your decision affects us?"
"No, I do care… I just…"
"Just, what, Pepper?"
"I just… I don't have it all figured out, alright? Is that a crime?"
"And that's the problem, right there: You don't have ANYTHING figured out, Potts!"
That phrase made her stop in her tracks, drop the container she had been holding in her hands and almost fall down. Tony quickly reacted to her leaning form and caught her by her waist. Pepper held her head with both hands and clenched her eyes, random voices and images coming to her mind.
"So I don't… all figured out…"
"… don't have… figured out, Potts! I thought… you … that you would… you're wrong! Clearly… mistaken… acting… child!"
Pepper opened her eyes suddenly and took in deep breaths when she felt the room spinning. Tony's calls for her name were mingled with the voices she was hearing of them, arguing about something she could not figure out.
"…child… you seriously…over here… yell at me, again?"
"No! ...take you back …even… touch you!"
"Why… always… you want?"
Pepper's legs gave under her and Tony adjusted his position to carry her in his arms. He made his way to his bed with her in tow and laid her on it. He waved his left hand in front of her face and snapped his fingers to try to help her to focus, but her eyes were still reflecting how far from his reach she was.
"…wanted… same thing… wrap your head… we're… together now… more …before… don't want… without you, but I want… you to want… me, despite… happening around us."
Tony was frantic! He searched her head for any signs of injury that the doctors may have missed but he found none. Dr. Ross had told the genius and Scott that she had hit her head pretty hard when she had hit the wall on the Helicarrier, but he had also assured him that the armor had prevented any concussions or traumatic brain injury from happening. Now he was not so sure that the prognosis was accurate and, for the life of him, he could not figure out what was wrong with her.
"Pep, come on, talk to me," he said and held her head in his hands by resting them under her neck. "Pepper, look at me. Focus, you have to focus."
Her eyes closed again and she began hyperventilating, and it was then that Tony finally realized what was happening to her: she was having a flashback.
No, he thought. It can't be! Gene… he… he said…
"How's it going with Pepper," Gene asked from his position at the table. "I surely hope you're keeping your promise to keep her safe, Stark."
"I am, for the most part. I can only do so much if she's still Rescue."
"True, but I'd expect her to have a mission issue here and there. What about her memories? Any sign that they're coming back?"
Tony shook his head. "I don't think so. She… she's got a boyfriend now."
"Really?" Gene arched his left brow. "Well, that's a step in the right direction, unless the boyfriend is you."
"It's not me. New guy. Met him at college."
"Ah!" Gene said with satisfaction. "Good. I hope she never remembers the crap you put her through."
"Me too," Tony said and then his head snapped up from his dinner plate to face Gene. "Wait… did you just say 'you hope'?"
"Yup."
"What's that supposed to mean? I thought it was permanent?"
"Of course not, Stark! That's not how the brain or the Makluan rings work. Everything is connected in there. One day she may remember, if she really wants to."
"How? How would she want to remember if she doesn't know she forgot?"
Gene shrugged. "A familiar place or phrase. A scent that is strongly associated in her brain with an important memory of hers. A dream… it could be anything, really."
"Well, that's comforting," Tony said with sarcasm. "What am I supposed to do if she finds out what we did to her?"
Gene smirked. "I don't know, but I do know I'll never be so happy to live in China."
"Ugh! After she's done beating me up, I'm giving her your address."
"If you survive," Gene said with a condescending smile.
"Tony?" her voice was merely a whisper, but he was close enough to her to hear it.
"I'm here, Pep," he grabbed her arm. "I'm here."
She exhaled and blinked several times while the spots in her vision cleared out.
"What, uhm, what's going on? Where... why am I in your bed?" she lifted her head slightly and stared left and right before she looked up at him and ran a hand down his hair. "Why is your head wet?"
"Oh," he said with a smirk and ran his fingers through his mane. "Forgot about that. You, uhm, you were washing my hair and you passed out on me."
"Oh," she replied, confusion evident in her tone and her face. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened," she pressed her right fingertips to her forehead as Tony held her left arm and helped her sit up on the bed. "Did I hit my head on the way down? It hurts like hell."
"No," he said but still checked her scalp. "I'm sure you didn't."
"This is so weird," she mumbled. "I don't remember washing your hair. I… I can finish it for you, though, if you just give me a moment."
"It's OK. I'm gonna shower, anyway. Do you want to stay here?"
"Yeah, yeah, if it's OK with you," she said, closed her eyes and returned her head to the pillow. "I need to shake this off before we leave."
"If we even go through this," he pressed a hand to her forehead. "We can wait, Pep. If you're not up to it–"
"No, I'm fine. We still have time, right? I'll just nap for a little."
"Pepper…"
"It's OK, Tony. I'll be fine. Maybe it was the dye. It was too strong."
"Maybe," he said, but knew better. "Do you want something for it?"
"Yes, please."
"OK."
The inventor reluctantly stepped away from her and went to his medicine cabinet in the bathroom. He grabbed two pain relievers, filled a cup with water and returned to her. She took the pills and washed them down with the water, all the while Tony stared at her with concern.
"Go shower, Tony," she managed a smile. "I've been worse than this, right? I'm sure it's nothing. It just caught me off-guard."
Tony sighed, shook his head in reluctance, but then leaned down to kiss her forehead before he walked back to his bathroom and closed the door. In the interim, the redhead was left to wonder what those voices she had heard meant. The images were completely gone, but some of the words were still present in the front of her mind.
I'm just nervous, she reasoned. Or I'm losing it, she thought with disdain before she turned on her side and fell asleep.
xxxXXXxxx
The ginger's arms went around Tony's waist and her forehead was pressed against his chest, his right arm surrounded her shoulders. Her eyes were closed and she only moved when he guided her to do so as the line to The Rotary moved along. They were still halfway to the entrance of the club on their late arrival to the place, but so far a couple of things out of the ordinary had already occurred.
The first had been that, upon their arrival, a special valet parking attendant they had never seen before had stood in their way. This person had taken their car with the excuse that they were going to be given the VIP treatment tonight, and that their car would be parked in the alley adjacent to the club as a way for them to be able to be parked next to the club – the same alley where the abductions took place. The second odd happening had been that the parking attendant had handed them two tickets for unlimited free drinks from the club's bar, claiming that the drinks tonight were "on the house."
Given the circumstances and what they intended to say and do tonight, the duo now knew for certain that it was not going to be difficult to become the Maggia's target tonight.
"We can still back out," Tony whispered as he stared directly at the front of the line where Wallace and Tyrone waited for them. He knew the noise on the streets was rather loud and that his face was nowhere near hers, but thanks to the molar implant they both had on at the moment, and the miniature earpiece they also had on, his words would be crystal clear for the redhead.
"No," she whispered back, her head never leaving his chest. "I want to get this done. Even as crappy as I feel and look tonight, I'm still ready to bring these guys down."
"You don't look crappy," they both took another step toward the entrance. "You look gorgeous, Pep. If the G didn't kidnap you, I would."
He felt her chuckle against his torso and he smiled.
"You're just saying that because you're marrying me, James."
"Of course not!" he gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "I'm just saying that because I want to get lucky with you tonight, Claire."
She pinched the side of his stomach but not hard enough to hurt him and, when he heard her giggle, he smiled again. He was glad that she did not remember the argument they had had in the bathroom right before she had passed out, but that also meant that she probably did not remember that he knew about her marriage promise to Scott. He would just have to bring it up again at a later time, and perhaps in a better way than he had done so before, now that he knew what her reaction would be.
Tonight, Pepper was wearing a more conservative dress than the ones she had worn before. She was not sure where she would be taken or what the temperature in the place would be, but she knew she could always roll up her sleeves if it got too hot in whatever place she was going to be kept. Her dress was black, three-quarter sleeved, but the sleeves, along with the fabric that covered the entire dress, were made of lace. Underneath the lace, and just from her chest to her mid-thighs, was a satin, black piece of fabric so that her undergarments were not visible. She finished the look with black pumps, let her long hair down, and had chosen not to wear any jewelry this time around.
Tony, on the other hand, was wearing dark blue jeans, an untucked, dark grey, short-length shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and matching casual shoes and belt. It was too hot to wear a jacket, but he attempted to one-up the outfit with a black and white, stripped tie held loosely around his neck. He knew, however, that they both could have been wearing a sack of potatoes just now and they would still let them in tonight. The Maggia were ready for them.
But so were they.
The couple finally made it to the two entrance bullies; the smiles on the two men's faces could have not been brighter. It was the kind of smile a person who had just been notified that he had won the lottery would have on his face.
"Well, look who decided to grace us with their presence?" Wallace said and stared at them up and down. "We thought ya'll had forgotten about us. We were about to send out a search party to NYU!"
"Of course not," Tony said. "We just tried other places for a few weeks, but Claire here wanted to come back, give the place a last chance before I convince her to go to a club closer to campus. The ride over to here is a killer!"
The worried looks the two men exchanged were not lost to either of the heroes, yet the silent communication between Pepper and Tony was not seen by the doormen.
"Well, we can't have that!" Tyrone said. "I'mma let my boys inside the club know you need convincing to stay here. They're gonna treat you real nice."
"There's no need for that," Pepper said with a head tilt and an innocent smile. "I'm sure I can convince James in other ways to keep coming here," she looked up at Tony and winked at him.
"Oh, I'm sure," Wallace mumbled and nodded, remembering the little action he had seen between the two of them at the hotel before he had been called away by the field boss again.
"What's that?" Pepper asked.
"Nothing," he swallowed hard. "Just go right in, dudes! We've got you covered."
"Thanks, man. I'll remember that," Tony nodded and then he and Pepper walked inside the familiar corridor.
They took their time walking along the dance floor but did not stop at it, to Pepper's surprise. Tony's real destination, in fact, was an available booth by the furthest corner of the club, the same booth they always sat in, and which had been marked as reserved for them. Tony let Pepper go inside the booth first and followed after her. Once inside, he surrounded her waist with his left arm and held her left hand in his right. He kissed her knuckles a few times, and while still holding her by the waist and her hand, he leaned down and kissed her, just because he could and wanted to.
Pepper threw her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her. His grip on her became stronger with the encouragement, and so did his kiss. It had been so long since she had been kissed by him, and she could only curse at herself for delighting in it this much. Nevertheless, the redhead was happy to comply with whatever Tony asked of her tonight even though her conscience was pointing an accusing finger at her, berating her for enjoying the contact with the inventor when she had just, shortly ago, reassured Scott that their relationship was more than just serious and that she was committed to the jock.
You have a fiancé, you know? Her conscience reminded her. What the hell do you think you're doing kissing Tony?
I'm performing a part. He's my fiancé right now, she responded.
What about the real one? What about him? The voice insisted.
He's not here right now, Pepper argued.
You're going to lose them both, you know? If you keep this up, you're going to lose them both.
At that thought, Pepper froze and stopped the kiss. She slowly pulled away from him and looked down at her lap, unable to meet his eyes, which she knew were probably silently asking her why she had suddenly stopped. Tony's face denoted his surprise, but he said nothing and figured the ginger had needed a break to breath. When she continued to stare down after her breathing had evened out, he kissed her forehead, lifted her head by her chin and stared at her inquisitively. In turn, she just shook her head at him to assure him nothing serious was going on with her even though she knew everything was off with her today.
"I want to dance," she finally said.
"OK."
He led her to the dance floor and, as they had done many times before, he surrounded her waist with his arms and she did the same for his neck. This time, however, and thanks to her high shoes, she was able to comfortably rest her chin on his shoulder and he did the same. The song that was playing had a much higher tempo than the rhythm they had chosen to follow, as all they wanted right now was time to think and mentally prepare for what the night had in store for them.
And time to be together like this while they could.
I have to tell him, the ginger thought, eyes closed, her nostrils filled and intoxicated by his expensive cologne. I have to tell him about Scott and me. About us getting married, even if it's not happening for a while. Even if I… even if I'm not sure about it anymore, Tony needs to know. I owe him that much. He'd be happy, right? He'd be happy for me, right?
Her confusion about her feelings for the jock and the inventor had just quadrupled since the Helicarrier mission and even today, she wondered how much of her acceptance for marriage had been due to her love for Scott and how much it had been due to the moment of relief when she had seen him alive after believing him gone. Her feelings for Tony were not gone, but they had been placed on the backburner since then, where they had demanded attention and had just gotten stronger than before. Even if he had implied he felt something for her with his confession that he thought about her when he was with Maya, it was not enough for Pepper to make a decision to change her relationship status with Scott. He could have said it to get a rise out of her, in anger, or just to get more of her attention focused on him; it was something he would definitely do.
Ever since they had met, Pepper had known that Tony liked for all the girls to pay attention to him, even if he did not find them interesting or attractive enough for him to date. It was just the way he was, one of his flaws that came with having girls bow down to him ever since he knew that girls existed and were up for grabs. At first, she had fallen for his tricks, his attempts at keeping her attention focused solely on him and no other guy, but by now she knew his antics better than that. She needed a better sign, a clearer sign, that he had meant every word.
He just said that because we almost slept together when we were drunk. He just said it to have the last word. If he really loved me, he wouldn't be with Maya. If he really loved me, he would be with me.
And, if you really loved Scott, her conscience chirped in, you wouldn't be doubting yourself right now.
Ugh, she slapped herself mentally. This is not the time or the place, Pepper. Keep it together! You're getting taken today! You need to pull yourself together!
But as always, it was easier said than done… for the both of them.
I have to tell her the truth. Tony was having his own internal argument. If we'd been together, I would've been there with her when the zombies took over the Helicarrier. I wouldn't have let anything happen to her. If she was with me, it'd be easier to keep her safe because I'd always be around and… that… that… Oh, shit!
Tony mentally slapped himself. The answer to his predicament had been there, right before him, all along.
That's it! That's just… UGH! What am I doing? What the fuck am I doing? I'm an idiot! I'm the stupidest person in the world! Why am I letting a promise to Gene keep me from being with her? WHY? WHY?!
He suddenly hugged her tighter, as if his touch could suddenly tell her what he was currently feeling and thinking, and even though he knew the molar and ear implants did not include the ability to read minds, her increased grip on him made him hope she was probably having similar thoughts to his. Something told him that she just had to. There was no way she had not felt something special for him that night they had almost been together: he had seen it in her eyes, and he just knew it had been more than just the effects of the booze. She just had to feel something other than a close friendship for him; she just had to. She just had to because that was the way it had been before and history had repeated itself, and as long as they knew the other existed and they hung around together, it would always end up being like this: the two of them together, no matter what.
"No matter what," just like she had told him right before she and Rhodey had suited up to willfully follow him in his fight against the Mandarin, who had just claimed ownership of the world. They were in this together, the both of them: no matter what.
Who cares if Gene carves me a new face for breaking my promise? Who cares if Scott tries to kick my ass for hitting on his fiancée? Who cares if Maya slaps the hell out of me for breaking up with her? Who cares what anyone else thinks? All that matters to me is what Pepper thinks, what she wants. What we want. And if we want to be together, then screw them all! Screw Maya! Screw Scott! And FUCK Gene!
This was it for Tony. The small revelation made him feel free. The full year of ups and downs, of pushes and pulls, of uncertainty and helplessness, had finally broken his resolve. He was tired of the games and the failed attempts at forgetting about her, all of which had been doomed from the start. It would never happen, everyone had known and told him so, and now he knew it too: it would never happen because he did not want it to happen, and all he regretted right now was wasting time and energy trying to accomplish a goal he had been forced to set by someone who was not even in the loop. Gene, or anyone else, for that matter, had no say in his heart. It was only Pepper's opinion that mattered to him. It was only Pepper's heart he cared about. It was just the two of them who could make this decision for themselves, and he would rather die before further denying her the life he knew she deserved – a life he strongly believed that only he could give her.
His mind was made up now. He would do it. He would do it tonight. He would tell her everything he had made her forget and everything he had withheld from her. And he would beg on his knees if he had to, if just for her to give them a chance, a real chance, to be together once and for all. All he had to do was say the word. All he needed was five minutes alone with her. He did not need much.
"James?" her call for his fake name interrupted his mental rant.
"Yeah?" he replied, almost absentmindedly.
"They're here."
"Who?" he frowned.
"The Inquisitionists. They're staring at us. I can see them from here."
The Inquisitionists had been the name Tony and Pepper had given the two men that had spoken to the redhead and the blonde that had been talking about the Maggia in the bathroom for Pepper's hidden form to hear; the same men Pepper and Tony suspected had kidnapped Wendy that first night Pepper had gone undercover. The men still had no names, but after tonight, when their hidden cameras in the alley picked up their faces, Tony would have a trace on their asses faster than they could blink. He knew the two men held the key to learning more about the operations of the Maggia, and the faster he could pinpoint their strategy and flaws, the faster he could go break Pepper out of their grips.
"Let's go outside, to the car," Pepper said and pulled away from him, but Tony pulled her right back.
"No, wait. Not yet. We just got here."
"Yeah, and we got here late. It's past ten, already. I'm sure they're ready for us."
"But I'm not ready to let you go!"
His confession made her hesitate for a second, but for the sake of the mission, she forced herself to calm her rapidly beating heart.
"To-James, please…"
"No, Pep," the use of her real name made her swallow hard. "Please, just, wait, OK? They probably won't strike until it's much later. There're still people outside waiting in line to come in. You know they let people come in until eleven. They'll probably do it when the club closes at three."
"I guess," she thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. "Yeah, you're right. But, when the time comes…"
"I'll be ready. I promise," he told her, crushed her against his body once more, and kissed her neck. "They won't have you for long. Your dad's contact in the FBI is going to be ready for my call. As soon as I give the word, as soon as you tell me we're all clear… I'm coming for you."
"I know you will," she hugged him back, clenched part of his clothes with her fists and closed her eyes. "I trust you."
A comfortable silence befell them, and they danced slowly for another long moment, one in which both of their minds wandered off again – his thinking about how to tell her about his feelings for her before she was taken; and her thinking about how to find out how he truly felt about her, even if the timing was jackshit wrong. The possibilities were endless, the hidden clues coming to the surface at the worst possible time, but being on the onset of a major event she was willing to put herself through for the sake of justice, only fueled her need to just come out and say the words.
So she did.
She pressed her body closer to his, allowed her lips to reach his ear, and after taking a deep breath, she whispered to him.
"I love you, Tony."
This particular instance of the simple three-worded phrase – many times before traded so casually between them – felt and sounded different for him. He could have attributed the distinct tone she had used to say it right now to many things: the charged atmosphere that resulted from mission jitters, the fact that the last time he had said this to her, she had not said it back – or perhaps, even to the cruel reality that neither of them had said it in a long time and they were both about to embark on a highly dangerous mission.
He was not sure how to take her words, or how to respond to them, but when she again spoke, all traces of doubt evaporated from his heart.
"I'm sorry, Tony. But I do."
When Tony finally pulled back to face her, it was clear that something great had shifted within him, and she could not ignore it even if she wanted to. He stared at her with a look so deep that it made her breath hitch. She had seen this look on him twice before; it had first occurred when she had thanked him for his gifts to her at Christmas, and then again that night at the hotel, and just as it had made her lose herself in his eyes those times, it did so again. His hands slid up from her waist and stopped at the base of her head, lacing his fingers and her hair together. His thumbs rested on her cheekbones, and he pushed her head slightly backwards.
Her hands moved down from his neck to grab the sides of his shirt, not really caring that she was wrinkling it with the effort she was placing on the fabric to keep herself standing up. She swallowed hard when his head tilted to the side, his eyes fixed on her lips and he licked his own. When he began leaning closer to her, there was no doubt what he wanted to do. They had kissed too many times before – more times than any friends should, but she knew this kiss was different than the rest; just as her confession of love of just now had been.
This kiss was not going to be a tease between two friends trying to beat each other at a silly game. This kiss was not going to be a mandatory step of an undercover mission. This kiss was not going to be a way to exert dominance over the other in a moment of anger. This kiss was not going to be a product of lowered inhibitions on a drunken night. This kiss was not even going to be between Claire and James; it was going to be between Pepper Potts and Tony Stark. This was the sign she had been asking for. And she could not believe it was here.
The way he was slowly approaching her, almost timidly and using his eyes and calculated moves to ask for consent to move yet another inch towards her, was what gave it away for her. He was telling her, without words, that he cared for her as more than just a friend; that he did feel the same way she did. He was giving her a moment to think about what it meant for them for this to be true, and to either accept or decline his invitation to take the plunge. He was putting the ball in her court; letting her be the one who decided what they should do about it, just as he had done so at Christmas and on that drunken night.
Yet, this time, they were both sober and wide awake and would not be able to place guilt on anything extraneous for their decision tonight. This was them, the real them, silently measuring the pros and cons of moving forward with what they had, and him asking her to give him final confirmation and her permission to act on it. She had not anticipated his reaction to her confession to be this intense, raw and readily, but in the end it did not matter. The only thing that mattered right now was her response.
Take it or leave it: those were the only two selections she had to choose from, and she had to make her decision now. Now, before the song ended. Now, before his lips could reach hers. Now, before the Maggia took her. Now, before she cowered and lost her chance. Now, before he began thinking she was taking too long to respond because she did not really want him the way she now knew he wanted her.
She swallowed hard again and licked her lips. A small smile graced her features and it pulled a smile from him, too. His heart was racing and so was hers, and if she concentrated hard enough, she would have probably felt him shaking in anticipation as well. He gave her one final glance and she gave him a small nod, and as their lips brushed against the other and their kiss was about to begin, reality hit them like an unexpected dunk inside a frigid lake.
"Hey! Sorry to interrupt. There's a problem with your car."
Pepper clenched her eyes and dug her face in his neck. Tony opened his eyes and stared to his left at one of the Inquisitionists standing next to them.
"I'm going to need you two to come with us," the man added, and with these words, the redhead's and inventor's world came crashing down.
xxxXXXxx
He tightly held her hand in his as they followed the two men out of the club and into the alley where their car had been parked. His grip on her was painful but she refused to complain about it right now. She knew he was just having a difficult time going through the motions, but it was something that needed to happen for the sake of the many men and women that had already been taken by the criminals before them. Her pain was just going to be momentary and necessary for taking down the remnants of the Maggia underworld.
"What's the problem?" Tony asked, trying to sound as neutral as possible, but Pepper could tell that he was on edge.
"Well, this area right here is a no-parking zone," one of the Inquisitionists said and moved closer to Pepper. "I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to move your vehicle, sir."
"Oh, really?" he asked and subconsciously pushed Pepper behind him. "Because it was one of your guys that parked it here, something about it being VIP. I don't even have the keys to it. He still has them."
"We're sorry he didn't know, sir. Either way, the car needs to be moved."
"Well, we were on our way out, anyway," Tony said. "If you get me my keys, we'll be out of your hair."
"Of course," the man said in feigned politeness. "It might take us a few minutes to locate the attendant to get your keys back, but we can get this all squared out for you, no problem. Although, it's not necessary for the lady to wait out here with us boring fellows. Why don't you and I wait here, sir, and my partner can escort your lady back inside to wait?"
Tony gulped and looked back over his shoulder to stare at Pepper. She looked back at him and gave him a confident nod she knew he needed before she began pulling her hand away from his. He grabbed her slipping hand before it was completely out of his reach, and he lifted it to his lips. He gave her trembling hand a lingering kiss on the back of it and then mouthed words he had not spoken to her in months, and which he knew would have a new meaning for her now. She gave him a one-sided smile and a final nod of understanding before she mouthed a: "Me too."
She took a step back from him, their eyes never leaving each other. Their orbs promising to continue the silent conversation that had been interrupted just moments ago, was the last thing either of them saw before everything went dark.
xxxXXXxxx
"Is he dead?"
"Nah, he's still breathing."
"Hey, his wallet's loaded!"
"Dude! Take it! Take it!"
"Oh, shit! He's waking up!"
"Let's go! Let's go!"
Tony groaned and gradually opened his eyes, only to see nothing but gray before him. It took him a few seconds to recognize he was face down on the ground, and a few more to partially come to his senses. He then slowly pushed himself up on all fours and then, even more slowly, he straightened his back and sat on his legs to look around him.
In front of him, he could see the trunk of his rented car, still unmoved from its position from the night before. The sun had just come out on the horizon, and the sounds of the city waking up were filling his ears. His right fingertips went to touch his temple and, when he pulled them back, his fingers had flecks of dried blood on them.
"What the fuck?"
He looked down at himself to check for other injuries but there were none. He was dirty and disoriented, but he seemed alright otherwise. It took him a moment to remember where he was, and when his eyes landed on the back door of the club, the memories of last night returned to him.
Oh, no! They… they took Pepper!
Despite the spike of pain that came with it, Tony stood up abruptly with another groan and held his left hand against his head when dark spots covered his now clenching eyes. He stumbled his way to the car and used his right hand to rest his weight on the trunk's closed door for balance, and when the dark spots finally went away, he looked left, right, front and back.
He was alone.
He knew the hidden cameras he and Pepper had installed in the alley had been recording everything for him, and he could access their feed right now if he used Extremis to connect to them, but he did not know if he was being watched, so he decided to wait on examining the evidence. He used the car as support to help him walk over to the driver's seat, and when he found the vehicle to be unlocked, he jumped right in and slammed the door shut. He lowered the visor, stared at his face in the mirror and saw a large, bleeding bump on the right side of his forehead. When he touched it, fresh blood began gushing out.
Assholes!
He could only hope Pepper was intact.
He returned the visor to rest against the ceiling of the car, and when he moved his legs to adjust his position in the seat he felt his right knee hit something that made a clinking noise. He looked behind the steering wheel and was surprised to see the car keys dangling from the ignition. He flipped the key, expecting the car not to work at all, but when it started at his command, he knew the fact that the keys were already there was no coincidence.
They had probably been there the entire time.
He looked to the passenger seat, where his redhead had just sat a few hours ago, and it made his heart clench at thinking what conditions she was waking up to this very moment. They had been so close; so close to him telling her the truth, so close to them officially being together again and now she was gone. Then again, it was his fault she was taken without hearing the entire story from him; he had waited until the worst possible moment to come clean with her.
He took in deep breaths as he thought about what to do now, but he could not make his mind focus. His head was throbbing. He felt dehydrated and too nervous about what they could have already done to Pepper in his absence. He stared at the clock and noticed it was just the next day. Barely eight o'clock in the morning, so at least he had not been unconscious for days while she was waiting for his call.
Wait, he thought and his hand flew to his right ear. Why isn't she talking to me? Why hasn't she said anything to me now? Surely, she heard me cuss just now!
The questions filling his mind did not help with the anxiety he already felt. Maybe she was waiting for him to say something first? Maybe she was currently being watched by the Maggia or maybe she was gagged? Should he try to contact her first? Should he maybe just wait until she said something to him so that he knew he would not be compromising her?
He groaned and hit the steering wheel with his left fist a few times, trying to let his anger come out so he could find his center. He knew he needed to relax, to calm down, for her sake if for nothing else. This is what they had been preparing for, anyway; he could not lose it now.
What do I do now? What am I supposed to do now? Maybe… maybe they left a clue?
He thought about getting out of the car to search for clues, but it did not make sense for them to just leave the evidence out in the open for anyone to find other than he. Either way, he was already planning on coming back later on today in the armor in stealth mode to run a quick analysis of the scene, so he knew that task could wait. He closed his eyes and thought about the possibilities for a second. If he were the Maggia kidnapping people, what hints would he have left behind? Would they be inside the club? Out in the streets? On his person? They obviously had left something around to guide him to their hideout or to a meeting place to negotiate Pepper's life; otherwise, they would have not left him in the alley, alive.
There had not been any more kidnappings based on the intel Pepper had gathered on her daily monitoring of the news and police reports, so he knew they were the first ones to be attacked in a long time. With a bit of luck, the Maggia's MO had not changed just for them, and he and Pepper were hopefully ahead of their game.
He opened his eyes and searched the keys for markings, but there were none. He patted himself for anything suspicious on him, but there was nothing. He opened the glove compartment and the middle compartment between the two front seats, but still he had no luck. He looked under the seats and all over the panel, but he came up empty-handed. He impatiently rapped the steering wheel with his fingertips and suddenly stopped when an idea came to his mind. He swallowed hard and slowly twisted his body to the right and stared back to find what he was looking for, ogling at him right in the face: a clue.
It was not anything major and anyone walking by the car would not think much of it, but Tony knew better than that. He had driven this car to the club last night, and he knew neither he nor Pepper had left a small gift box on the back seat. He eyed the box with distrust for a moment, and then carefully grabbed it and placed it on his lap.
Could the seemingly innocent box be holding an explosive device or maybe poison gas? Would he be knocked out again if he opened the box? Was the challenge not to open the box at all?
Did Pepper's wellbeing depend on it?
He shook the thoughts aside and swallowed hard as he examined the contraption. It was not even paper wrapped; the festive decorations were part of the box, and it seemed as if it had seen better days. Knowing the Maggia, they probably reused things like these, which was great for him because it meant he could probably get tons of fingerprints off it. The box was not even sealed and, now that he had it in his hands, he could tell that all he needed to do was remove the cover to find whatever was inside.
So he did.
To his surprise, the box was mostly empty, save for two items inside: a little piece of paper and something wrapped in a small rag. He grabbed the paper first and, from the printed letters, Tony read the message aloud.
"Book a stay at the hotel where you nailed her. Wait for instructions. Do not call the police or…"
Or what?
He gulped and looked at the back of the paper but there were no more messages, so he decided to unfold the rag. As he did so, he gasped.
He stared at the item with wide eyes, and not because of what it was, but because of what it represented: mutilation, torture, assault. It was a lock of brown hair wrapped tightly around the center with a rubber band. He took the lock to his nose and gave it a whiff, and he immediately knew he did not have to run an analysis on it. It was Pepper's hair; he would recognize the scent of her shampoo anywhere. He had been inhaling it for years. And it was now combined with the recent use of hair dye.
His hands began shaking in anger. They had already laid a finger on her. They had already touched her, and he hoped that it had been in no more ways than just one to cut her hair. He returned the paper and the lock of hair inside the box, and when he was about to put it away, his trembling hand dropped the box on the passenger's seat, made it flip, and the bottom of box showed; the bottom of it that had yet another cryptic message for him.
CHECK THE TRUNK.
His eyes went wide.
He pulled the lever to pop the trunk and opened the door, not even bothering to turn off the car. He slowly stepped out of the vehicle and walked over to the partially opened trunk. Once he stood in front of it, he opened it all the way, and inside it was a similar-looking box to the one he had found on the back seat. He wasted no time in grabbing it and opening it, and just as before there was a piece of paper and a rag. This time, he unfolded the rag first; fearful of what he may find, and when he saw the bloody, severed finger he almost threw up.
Almost.
Until he realized it was made of rubber.
It was not real.
It was a fake; nothing but a prop.
But that did not mean his heart had not shot up to his throat just now.
"Motherfuckers!"
Tony threw the box and the fake finger back into the trunk, crunched the paper in his right hand, slammed the trunk door closed and returned to the driver's seat. He shut the door behind him, breathed hard and shook his head vehemently.
A joke.
It was nothing but a big game for them.
How could anyone have the heart to pull that stunt about someone you loved? How could anyone take pleasure in making others suffer like this? Did they get off playing with the feelings of others? Is that how they got some?
Evidently, they did.
They're dead. ALL of them. They're fucking DEAD!
Once he felt his blood pressure return to normal, he unclenched his right hand and unwrinkled the piece of paper. The words written on it were meant to scare him, just as they had scared the other twenty-six men that had come before him and had had to experience this torture. The words were meant to send him to his knees and beg for his fiancée to be kept alive while he complied with whatever dirty deeds the Maggia demanded of him. The words were meant to intimidate him, break him, bully him into submission. Yet, for Tony Stark, the words on the piece of paper were nothing more than a challenge; an invitation to break someone's neck for her… again.
And he would do so as many times as needed, no questions asked, and with no regrets this time. Not that he regretted killing Ghost… that much.
Tony threw the piece of paper onto the back seat and switched gears. He revved up the car a few times as he mapped in his head the location of the hotel he and Pepper had stayed in the last time they had been at the club and, without further ado, he sped his way out of the alley and onto the almost empty streets, not breaking for any traffic signs or stops until he arrived.
The piece of paper, now long forgotten somewhere inside the vehicle, which he parked in front of the same room they had booked last time – and only thanks to the money Pepper had made him hide inside his shoe, had incited only one response from the inventor. A response that required the Maggia to do the impossible to counteract it: kill the armored vigilante in cold blood. The message was composed of only twelve words; nothing more, nothing less, but the words were powerful enough to make any of the other men cower in fear.
Tony Stark was not any other man.
The Maggia would never see it coming; they would never see it coming that Iron Man was now on their ass more than before, just because they had dared to do what only an idiot would do to him: threaten Pepper Potts.
NEXT TIME, IT WILL BE HER HEAD AND IT WON'T BE FAKE.
"We'll see about that."
xxxXXXxxx
The last time she had woken up tied to a chair like she had hours ago, she had been taken by Ghost, and if right now she could tell her past self that Ghost was going to be the preferred villain compared to what she had gone through up to now, she knew her past self would have laughed at her… herself… themselves…
Whatever.
The lingering effects of whatever they had drugged her with to knock her out were worse than the hangover she had had the first time she had gone undercover at The Rotary. Then again, that hangover had been heightened by the date rape drug she had been given, and that was after Tony had been kind enough to purge her body of whatever alcohol and drugs he could. This time, however, she had no such luck.
"Are you ready to scream for us, girly girl?"
Pepper swallowed hard.
Ever since she had woken up, the Maggia had been trying to make her shriek. At first, she had not understood why they were so adamant to accomplish the feat, but after one of the members of the clan had said that they needed the "footage for the guy," she knew what they were trying to do: they were trying to record her screaming to show the video to Tony.
Good luck with that, creeps, the ginger had thought but had kept her mouth shut. Not that she could actually say anything beyond a grunt or a mumble; a cloth had been tied around her mouth in a tight cleave gag, with another cloth covering her eyes.
They had kicked her shins, pulled and ripped out some of her hair, pinched her fingers extremely hard with a pair of pliers, and had even pressed the tip of something really hot against her back. All of the attempts had hurt like nobody's business, but after surviving Whitney's torture for weeks, it was child's play to the redhead.
Who would have thought they had the mean bitch to thank for her pain tolerance? Irony overload.
"She must be a masochist or some shit like that," one of the Maggia said. "The other girls would have screamed their lungs out by now."
"I say we just skip to Level 3 and get it over with," a second thug said. "I call dibs on her, if we do. She's hot."
"Level 3? Are you serious? She JUST got here! Level 3 is not allowed until she's been here at least two months. Besides, keeping up with one preggo chick is enough. We don't need two," the first Maggia member replied.
What? The ginger held back a groan of anger. Damn them!
"Yeah, I guess you're right," the second henchman began. "But I still called her, first. What are we gonna do about the video, though? The chump already checked in at the place we told him to, and we need the video to set him off."
"I know, but," the first Maggia thug sighed. "I guess we're gonna have to think outside the box here."
"What do you suggest?"
"Well," the man began and Pepper did not like the way his tone suddenly changed. "I heard you used to be a paramedic. Is that true?"
The complicit laughs between them made a shiver run down her spine.
xxxXXXxxx
The knock on his door was swift and loud, and by the time Tony reached the door, the perpetrator was long gone and had left only a small envelope in his wake. The inventor grabbed the envelope and walked back inside the room, slamming shut the door behind him. He quickly shred the envelope open, and inside he found a CD and another piece of paper. The piece of paper read: THE MOVIE IS ON US.
He eyed the CD for a second and then made his way to the television in the room. Luckily for him, the hotel had an old DVD player attached to the even older television, and Tony prayed they still worked well enough to play whatever he had been sent over, even if he feared what he was about to see.
He popped open the CD tray and placed the disc inside and, after finding the correct channel to watch the contents of the disc, he sat in front of the TV, by the foot of the bed. He held his breath and waited for the video to start, and when the first thing he saw was Pepper tied to a chair, he growled. The situation was too familiar for him, too close to home, and even if he had already located the hideout of the Maggia by reading off coordinates from the subcutaneous tracker he had embedded in Pepper's arm, his mind still mocked him with the non-existent glimmer of the necklace he had given her for her birthday, as if it were on the screen right now. It was just as with Ghost sending him proof that she was still alive, only that this time, it did not matter if he knew where she was; he still had to wait for the Maggia to call the shots.
It was ironic, all of it, including the fact that the secret hideout where Pepper was being kept was the same abandoned building he and the ginger had once escaped to during lunch time while still attending the academy. What were the odds, he had questioned himself, that the place where Pepper had run off to hide when she had found out she was adopted was the same place she was being held captive now? Extremely low, he knew; and it only proved to him that a higher order really did enjoy making him suffer like this.
"Hello, James," the voice of a person not on screen resounded in the recording and Tony narrowed his eyes. "I think you know what this is."
The masked man then walked onto the screen and over to Pepper. The ginger was staring down at the floor. She was no longer gagged or blindfolded, and even though she looked alert, she did not make a sound. Her hands were tied behind her back and, at first glance, she looked as if she was alright, all things considered. Tony breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that whatever they were about to do to her on screen was not going to be too terrible for her sake. She had already suffered enough.
The man ran a hand down Pepper's hair a few times, as if she were a child that needed calming down even though her face revealed nothing of what she was actually feeling. He then grabbed a handful of her hair and pressed it against his nose. He inhaled it an exaggerated manner and then, while still holding the chunk of hair in his hand, he stared back and smiled at the camera.
"She smells good… but, you already know that, right?"
Tony's hands turned to fists.
The man then let go of Pepper's hair, stood behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders, as if about to give her a massage. Pepper tried shrugging him off, but the man just dug his fingers into her shoulder blades and she pursed her lips after a light flinch that made Tony frown.
"You know, James," the man behind Pepper began. "Your girl here is a tough one to crack. Her pain threshold is rather high. What the hell have you two been doing in bed together? No matter what we've done to her, we haven't been able to make her scream."
Tony snarled and leaned forward, a bit closer to the screen.
"So, we figure that, since she doesn't want to scream for the nice cameraman, we'll just help her out with staying quiet, and we're going to give you a chance to witness how we do that."
A second masked man appeared on screen with a syringe in hand – similar to the one that had been used to knock Pepper unconscious when they had taken her, as per the security feed – and as the first man held Pepper's neck to be exposed to the incoming syringe, Tony screamed even though there was no one there to hear his pleas.
"NO! Let her go!"
"Do you know what potassium ions are, James?" the man with the syringe asked. "No? Didn't think so. It's what doctors use to stop a person's heart during bypass surgery. The chance of restarting someone's heart after it is about 50%."
Tony's eyes widened and his own heart stopped when he realized what they were about to do to the redhead. This, they had not expected. For this, they had not planned. Pepper was supposed to be kept alive at least until the Maggia recruited him, and not a moment before was she to be killed. Was this why Pepper had not been talking to him? When had this video been taken? He had already waited two days to hear from the Maggia. Was it too late for her?
"My man, here, knows his shit," the first man said and pointed at the man with the syringe. "But let's hope chance is on your lady's side today. She doesn't want to scream for us; then she'll scream for no one."
"NO!"
As the blue-eyed boy watched helplessly from the hotel room, the man with the syringe stuck it in Pepper's neck while she thrashed and tried to stop him to no avail. It took a few seconds for her to finally stop moving after the syringe was emptied, but when she did, the first man untied her from the chair and forcefully kicked her out of it. Pepper landed on her left side on the ground with a thud, not even attempting to soften the blow at all on her way down.
"PEPPER!" Tony screamed so hard it hurt his throat.
The unseen camera man then walked closer to the heap that was the ginger and kicked her so that she was now facing up and stared directly at the camera when he zoomed into her. Her eyes were wide open and unblinking, her mouth was slightly ajar and her hair was in complete disarray, partially covering her frightened-looking face.
"NOOOOOO! PEPPER!"
Tony fell to his knees in front of the recording. His palms landed on the screen, as if he could touch her pale face from afar, but he was met with only the cold glass of the television monitor. He stared down at the floor, rested on all fours and moaned in desperation. He slammed his fists against the ground multiple times, breathed raggedly and then mustered up the courage to look up again.
"Pepper… no…"
She had not moved. Nothing had changed. The Maggia was doing nothing to help her.
"So, James," he heard someone say as the camera continued to focus on Pepper. "We'll send you the location for us to meet tomorrow. Be prepared for it. Don't contact the police. They won't believe you if you do, anyway. We bought them a long time ago. You'll get a chance to see your fiancée alive again… if we can restart her heart."
The camera zoomed in closer to Pepper's face and Tony had to clench his eyes shut and looked away when he saw tears were sliding down from her eyes.
"We hope we can. We still haven't had our fun with her."
The last words of the Maggia thug were followed by loud laughter and then the recording ended. The moments following the ending of the video were painfully silent until Tony could no longer hold back anymore and just screamed his lungs out.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The inventor did not even bother to take out the DVD from the tray and just stared down at the floor in complete shock, his mind's eye replayed the look on Pepper's face. He called on Extremis and searched for her current location via the GPS tracker and realized it was still the same abandoned warehouse he had pinpointed before. He swallowed hard and cursed at himself when it dawned on him that he should have included a vital signs monitor with the tracker just to be on the safe side, but it was now a moot point.
I should go to her. I should go to her now. Screw the mission and take her… take back whatever is left of her.
Whatever is left of her; the phrase made him shiver and a new wave of tears made themselves known.
"NO!"
He shakily stood up and took out the DVD from the player, wanting nothing more than to crush it with his bare hands, but he knew better and stopped himself from going through with it. If anyone was left alive after he busted into the Maggia's warehouse in his Hulk Buster armor and blew them to Kingdom Come, he would need this video for evidence. Evidence that the Maggia were responsible for the kidnappings and that the police knew and did nothing. Evidence that torture of the victims was involved and perhaps even death was brought to them afterwards. Evidence that he had sent Pepper to her death and had done nothing to stop it.
"Pepper, God, no!"
He angrily threw the DVD onto the bed and held his head between his hands, willing himself to calm down. He took in deep breaths and paced around the room, loudly spitting out every curse word he knew. His mind was racing, thinking of the possibilities of how to end the Maggia, how to extend their suffering, how to make sure they felt he same pain he now felt.
He then ran to the bathroom, opened the faucet and splashed cold water on his face. Even though he was now breathing through his mouth and took in mouthfuls of air, he felt his lungs burn as they had done so when he had drowned at the icy river after blowing up the plummeting airliner. His eyes stung and his chest felt constricted, but this time, there was no redhead in a suit of armor nearby, ready to breathe life back into him.
"Pepper! God, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should've never let you go! I should've never lied to you! I should've… Pepper! PEPPER!"
He shut off the faucet and clenched his eyes again. He began sobbing like a child that had been told he would go to Disneyland but was then told the flight had been cancelled at the last minute. He coughed in between sobs, and once he regained some of his composure, he groaned in anger.
"I'm going to kill them," he snarled and threw a decorative glass bottle of hand soap against the mirror, crashing both on impact. "I'm going to suit up and beat the shit out of them! I'm going to –"
His next words were cut off by the call of his name. It was faint, almost nonexistent, but he knew that he had heard it. He stood up straight, looked left and right and did not even dare to breathe lest it would keep him from hearing it again. He waited, and waited, and waited, and when he was about to give up, he heard it again.
"Pepper?"
His heart stopped for a second time today.
A/N: The end is coming. And the real ANGST will begin in The Second Year. DUN DUN DUN As always, links to the outfits can be found on my profile.
