The next day,Tony opened the front door to find a box left by the parcel carrier. It was his new phone. He walked inside and carried it down to the shop with him. He tossed the box on his work bench and grabbed a box cutter, slicing it open. He took out the phone and activated it. Immediately, it rang. Tony looked at in surprise. It was Rhodey. He answered.
"Hello?"
"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to picked up his damned phone. Welcome back to civilization," Rhodey sneered.
"Yeah, well, the other one got...broken," Tony replied, fiddling with a piece of soldering wire.
"Broken, huh?" Rhodey said skeptically.
"Yeah, broken. I broke it...when...I...," he stammered. Tony shook his head, stopping his confession. "Look, whatever, I'm here now. What's up?"
"I've been trying to get a hold of you for a while," Rhodey said. "It's about Pepper."
Tony stopped fiddling, his eyes going wide. "What about Pepper?" he said cautiously.
"She left for Kansas City this morning. Her mother's in the hospital. It's serious."
Tony was silent, stunned. He was one of very few people that knew how Pepper felt right now. His mind flashed back to when his parents were in their accident, and how lonely and frightening it was. He wanted nothing more than to hold her and comfort her, regardless of what had happened between them. Suddenly, he remembered her message she'd left. "Look, I've gotta go. I'll call you back," he said.
"Tony!" Rhodey said, just before Tony hit the end button. He dialed his voice mail and clicked through to Pepper's message. He bit his lip as he listened closely.
"Tony, it's Pepper, um...," he heard her voice falter. "Something has happened with my mother and she's in the hospital. I'm flying to Kansas City this afternoon to be with her. I tried to book a commercial flight but nothing leaves until midnight, so I'm taking a jet. I'm sorry to have to do that, but I know you'll understand. I..." He heard her pause. Her hurt gripped him and his heart broke for her. "I hope I hear from you. I could really use your support right now. I love you, Tony. And I miss you."
The message ended, and Tony squeezed his eyes shut and pursed his lips. How could he be so cold? She clearly needed him right now, desperately, and he'd turned a blind eye. He felt cruel and mean, and he couldn't stand himself right now. He realized that, whether or not she had betrayed him, he hadn't stopped loving her. And it cut him to the core to have to go through this alone. He knew what she was going through. Her pain was his pain, and he had to go to her. Immediately.
"Jarvis," he said. "Prep the suit. We're headed for Kansas City. ASAP."
XxXxXxXxXx
Pepper held her mother's hand as she watched her face silently. She'd scarcely left her bedside since she'd arrived, only taking short breaks to stretch her legs in the arboretum, or to grab something small to eat, just to be able to keep her energy up. But she hadn't slept. She couldn't. (She knew, if Tony was there, he'd make fun of her for being a hypocrite and not taking care of herself, when she was always so insistent that he take better care of himself.) Her mind raced with the idea of possibly losing the two most important people in her life, all at once. And the thought was too much to take. She felt like all she'd done was cry. She was exhausted, and her head ached. But, spitefully, her eyes burned with new tears, and she rubbed them with her other hand.
Her aunt, as promised, had gone to work that day, and emailed Pepper a scan of her cousin's birth certificate. And Pepper immediately forwarded it to Tony's email. It was a shot in the dark, she knew, seeing as how he rarely checked his email without her prodding him to do so. And without being able to communicate with him in any other way, she was forced to hope upon hope, that just this once, he'd pay attention to his inbox.
She heard her aunt come in the room from talking with the nurses. She'd come straight over from work that afternoon, and had stopped at the nurses station to get the day's update. Pepper turned and gave her a weak smile when she entered. Her aunt stepped up behind her and rubbed her back. "Well, it sounds like we have good news," she said. "They're going to start backing off the medication sooner than they planned, so she should start coming around in the next few hours, from what I hear."
Pepper nodded. "That is good news, isn't it?" she said softly. Her aunt gently swept Pepper's hair back and ran her fingers through it lovingly. She squeezed her shoulders. "She'll be alright,Ginny, you'll see."
"I know," Pepper said. She sniffed, the burn of more tears coming on made her shut her eyes. "It's just been so hard to watch her go through this," she said, her voice tight from the lump in her throat. She squeezed her mother's hand tightly.
"Why don't you take a break for a while. Go get something to eat. Get some fresh air. I'll call you as soon as she starts to wake up, okay?" her aunt reassured.
Pepper nodded. "Yeah, okay," she relented. She stood up and turned toward her aunt. She hugged her tightly. "Thank you,"she said. "You've been a big help."
Her aunt smiled kindly. "Of course, dear. Anything for my favorite niece!"
"Aunt Anita, I'm your only niece," Pepper said, smiling at her aunt's joke.
"Yes, and so far, your my favorite!" she replied. They chuckled softly. Pepper kissed her cheek as she walked out the door.
XxXxXxXxXx
Tony had arrived at the private hanger in Kansas City where the jet had been parked since Pepper's flight from L.A. He left the suit with the plane, grabbed a rental car, and sped off toward St. Mary's, his heart racing with the thought that, no matter what Pepper had or hadn't done, she needed him more than ever, right now. He didn't have the heart to ignore her any longer, especially after hearing the message she'd left him.
Once he arrived, he quickly found a place to park, and ran inside to the reception desk. "Potts," he spat out, trying to catch his breath. "I'm looking for Marilyn Potts' room?!"
"I need to see some ID, please," the receptionist stated.
Tony huffed impatiently, digging for his wallet in his back pocket. He found his ID,and slapped it on the desk. The woman looked at it, and turned the sign in clipboard toward Tony to fill out the information.
Tony looked at her with bewilderment. "Oh, come on!" he complained.
The receptionist exhaled sharply. "Sir," she said sternly. "All visitors must check in. I'm sorry. Rules are rules."
Tony frowned and yanked the clipboard off the desk. He scribbled the information down, but stopped at the box marked "relationship to patient". He chewed his lip and thought for a moment. Finally, he wrote "daughter's boyfriend" and shoved the clipboard back at the woman. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he crossed his arms and pouted.
She typed in the information into her computer and Tony drummed his fingers on the desk impatiently. The receptionist pursed her lips as she searched for Marilynn's information. Tony glanced anxiously between her face and the screen the she was staring at.
"4th floor. Room 403," she said finally. "Here is your visitor's badge. Please wear it where it is visible at all times."
"Got it!" Tony blurted out as he grabbed it and darted toward the elevators. He tapped his foot anxiously, waiting for the doors to open. When they finally did, he darted inside and jabbed the 4th floor button.
"C'mon, c'mon," he said under his breath, squirming anxiously. He hastily clipped the badge to his pants pocket as he watched the digital screen above the doors. Soon, the bell dinged and the doors opened slowly. Tony dove between them and jogged down the corridor until he reached the doorway to Pepper's mother's room.
"Pepper, I'm..." he said, but he stopped abruptly. An older woman with blond hair wrapped in a bun on top of her head was sitting at the side of Pepper's mother's bed. He could only assume she was some kind of relative. She slowly turned to look at him. "Can I help you?" she said curiously.
"Uh, yeah," Tony said, feeling embarrassed for barging in. "I'm looking for Pep... I mean Virginia. I'm..."
"Oh, I know who you are," the woman said, smiling.
Tony looked at the woman apprehensively. "You-you do?" he stammered, unsure of what to make of the woman's statement.
But the woman smiled kindly and nodded. "Mmmm hmmm," she said. "And I knew you'd come."
Tony looked at her curiously. "You...did?" he asked.
Pepper's aunt smiled. "Ginny's told us so much about you," she said. "You're Tony, right?"
Tony nodded and smiled sheepishly. "Uh, yeah. Yep. Sure am," he said awkwardly.
The woman extended her hand. "I'm her Aunt Anita," she said. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Tony took her hand and flashed her a winning grin. The woman blushed. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Anita," he said respectfully, his eyes sparkling.
"Oh, you are a charmer," Anita said. "Just as Ginny said."
Tony looked away bashfully.
"Listen," Anita said, stepping closer to Tony and speaking in a hushed tone. "I know Ginny needs to speak to you. But unfortunately she just left."
Tony's face fell in disappointment that he was too late. "She did?" he said softly.
Anita shook hear head. "No, honey! I don't mean she left the hospital. I mean she left here. This room. She needed a break. She's probably either at the cafeteria or the arboretum, though."
Tony's eyes brightened. He fished his phone out of his pocket. "Well, let's just see where she went, shall we?" he said.
Anita smiled. Tony smiled at her sweetly as he dialed Pepper's number. He put his phone to his ear and waited patiently. Four rings went by and her voicemail picked up. Tony frowned and sighed. He turned to look at Anita again. "Cafeteria or Arboretum, huh?" he said, a little frustrated that Pepper didn't answer.
Anita nodded. "Yes, dear."
Tony smiled. "Thank you," he said gratefully. He winked, and Anita blushed as he hurriedly left the room.
XxXxXxXxXx
Pepper sat down heavily on the bench in the arboretum, taking a deep breath. She looked up above her in the trees, the sunlight filtering in through the glass panes in the ceiling. It illuminated the leaves, leaving sparkly patterns on the cobble stone walk way. She heard the trickling of the many water fountains around her. Many people came and went. Some were bustling nurses, and others were patients themselves, either walking or being pushed in wheelchairs by nurses or loved ones.
She loved it here. It was so peaceful and quiet, and had provided some much needed sanctuary away from the world for the past couple of days. She gazed down the walk way to the opposite end from where she came in, letting her mind drift. She was lost in thought when suddenly she heard a very familiar voice behind her.
"There you are," it said.
Pepper's heart leaped. She turned her head and looked up. Standing in front of her was Tony. He was looking down at her and smiling warmly. "Your aunt told me I'd find you here," he said softly.
His eyes followed her as she slowly stood up, her mouth agape and eyes wide in disbelief. "It's...You're..."she stammered. "I can't believe it!" she exclaimed. She threw her arms around his neck, almost knocking him over. He chuckled and wrapped her in his. He squeezed her tightly, burying his nose in her hair, as she cried softly on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Pep," he murmured. "I'm here. It'll be okay."
She pulled back, tears streaming. "I've missed you so much!" she whispered. She touched her fingertips to her mouth and shook her head in disbelief, still not fully comprehending that he was there, standing in front of her.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I've missed you more," he said. He kissed her forehead, and then rested his head on hers. He smiled, relieved to be close to her again. He wiped a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb, and looked into her eyes. "And none of what happened matters, right now okay? All I could think about was you being here. Alone. And I decided I couldn't have that. You didn't deserve to have to go through this by yourself. I've been there, Pep. I know what you're going through. And I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
Pepper smiled and fiddled with his shirt. "So, you got my email, then?" she asked hopefully.
Tony raised his head and looked at her curiously. "Email?" he said, cocking one eyebrow.
Pepper rolled her eyes and smirked. She looked away and threw up her hands. "I should've known," she said. "I swear, Tony Stark, if I didn't nag you constantly about reading your emails, they'd never get read," she jabbed. She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket to open her email, but frowned, noticing her ringer had accidentally been turned off, and she had missed him. "You tried to call?"she said.
"I was trying to find where you were. Way to go for not answering," he teased.
She huffed in dismay. "Oh, you're one to talk! You haven't been answering your phone for days!" she said.
"Well, I couldn't," he stated plainly. "It got broken."
"Broken?" Pepper said skeptically.
"Yeah. It broke when I..." he paused, reconsidering his words. "You know what," he backtracked. He winced, and waved a hand in dismissal. "It's not important."
She looked at him curiously for a minute before turning her attention back to her phone. She opened the email she'd sent containing the birth certificate, and pointed the phone at Tony. "This," she said, "should clear everything up."
Tony took the phone from her and scrolled through the attachment, frowning. He looked back up at her as he processed the information. "So, Clayton is your cousin," he said dumbly.
She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "Tony," she said seriously. "Have I ever once lied to you?"she said, staring at him intently.
He looked at her in shame and shook his head slowly. "No," he murmured.
She frowned. "Then why the hell would I start now?" she asked.
Tony sat down heavily on the bench and propped his head up with two fingers, as he rested his elbow on his knee. He squeezed his eyes shut, and sighed. "I'm an idiot," he said, finally.
"You are an idiot," Pepper parroted. She sat down next to him and watched him.
He leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. He shook his head in disbelief at how stupid he'd been about this whole thing. How his blind jealousy had almost pushed the love of his life out of his life.
He chuckled to himself. "Wow," he said. He sat up and turned to her with shame in his eyes. "Pepper, I'm sorry. Please," he pleaded. "Please forgive me. I'll do anything, I swear. I've been such an asshole to you..." he jabbered.
Pepper put her fingertips to his lips to quiet him. He looked at her with sad puppy dog eyes as he fell silent.
She smiled sweetly. "I already have," she whispered, looking into his eyes reassuringly. She lowered her fingertips and he searched her eyes for moment before he pulled her to him, crashing their lips together. He kissed her deeply, cupping her face with his hand. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, not being able to get enough of his lips on hers.
An old man with a walker tottered by. He stopped and looked at them in disgust. "Get a room!" he exclaimed. "Damn kids!" He resumed walking down the path, muttering to himself in dismay.
Pepper heard him and broke from their embrace to look at the man. Her cheeks turned red. Tony laughed and she turned back to looked at Tony briefly and back again at the man, her eyes wide with embarrassment. She laughed with him as they watched him pass by. Tony gently pulled her face back in his direction. He smiled widely, his eyes sparkling. Pepper's heart melted. This was the smile she'd missed the most. He leaned in to kiss her again, letting the feeling of complete joy and relief wash over him. They were whole again.