Why hello! I hope you liked the last chapter. Here's the next one for you!
Chapter Ten
Two weeks later, Pepper entered the Stark mansion, butterflies in her stomach. Nervous, sick butterflies. Today was the day that Tony was going back to Afghanistan for the first time since Gene's death. And it was her birthday.
She slowly walked down the stairs to Tony's workshop, hearing his loud blaring music, and noticing his foot tapping to the beat. That brought back old memories of listening to loud music in the armory.
Before she hit the bottom of the stairs her cell phone rang, she answered it quickly, "Hello?" She asked, pausing on the stairs.
"Pepper, Tony better be leaving soon." Rhodey sounded on the other end.
"I know, I know. I told him to leave earlier." Pepper said.
"Well, obviously he didn't, because I'm still standing here. Waiting for him. In this blinding sun and ridiculous heat." Rhodey sounded very annoyed.
Pepper went down the rest of the steps while talking to Rhodey, pushing her code into the transparent screen on the side of the door, turning down his music at the same time.
"I'm going to try again, right now." She said patiently.
"Please don't turn down my music." Tony said while keeping his attention on the car.
"You're supposed to be half way around the world right now." Pepper said sternly.
Tony snorted, "Why are you trying to hustle me out of here? I thought you didn't want me to go in the first place."
"The sooner you leave, the sooner you come home." She said with a sigh. "And I need to speak with you about a couple of things before I get you out of here."
Tony noticed the clipboard she held. That never meant anything good. "Larry called, there's another Jackson Pollock in the wings, do you want it? Yes or no."
"Is it a good representation of his spring period?" Tony asked.
As much as people believe Tony is a genius, sometimes...things just come out of his mouth before he can control it. The question catches Pepper off guard for a moment, "Uh, no. The Springs was actually in East Hampton where he lived and worked, not "spring" like the season-"
"So?" Tony asked, looking up at Pepper, trying to cover the fact that he really hadn't been listening.
"I think it's a fair example..." She shrugged her shoulders, "I think it's incredibly overpriced."
Tony smiled, "I need it. Buy it. Store it." It was as if he did this all the time. What else do you do with billions of dollars? Plus, Tony had somewhat of a soft spot for art work, and so did Pepper. So he made it a point of being interested in art.
Pepper tried to hide a smile creeping onto her face, she went on to another subject, "Okay. The MIT commencement speech-"
"Is in June." Tony finished for her. She was a little surprised that he remembered. "Please don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way, down..."
"Well, they're haranguing me, so I'm going to say yes." Pepper put in swiftly.
"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me." Tony said, they had many of these quick, witty comments and funny conversations almost everyday. Tony found them quite comical, even though he knew that sometimes, it annoyed Pepper to no end.
"I need you to sign this before I get you on the plane." Pepper said with some finality.
"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you have plans?" Tony asked, the corner of his mouth going up in a teasing smile.
"As a matter of fact, I do." Pepper said.
"I don't like it when you have plans." Tony pouted.
"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday." Pepper said, taking a deep breath.
"It's your birthday?" Tony asked before he could stop himself.
"Yes." Pepper didn't meet his eyes.
"I knew that. Already?" Tony asked, trying to make light conversation over his second mess up of the day.
"Yeah, isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year..." Pepper said, giving him an overly-sweet smile.
"Get yourself something nice from me." Tony said, smiling, a smile she knew too well. A real smile, one that Tony would give only to her.
"I already did." Pepper gave him a kind smile this time.
"And?" He asked.
"Oh, it was very nice." Pepper nodded her head.
"Yeah?" Tony asked, obviously wanting details.
"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark." Pepper said, calling him by his last name, but this time, it's more meaningful, respectful.
"You're welcome, Miss Potts." Tony grinned, so tempted to kiss that smiling mouth of hers, but turned around and started walking to his car. Avoid the temptation, it would only ruin things for him even more.
Tony arrived at the tarmac, looking up to see Rhodey standing at the entrance to the plane. "What's wrong with you?" Rhodey called.
"What?" Tony asked innocently.
"Three hours. For three hours you got me standing here." Rhodey said, simmering with anger.
"Waiting on you now!" Tony said, patting his back as he passed him, entering the plane.
Arash sat in the passenger seat of a car they were driving through the desert, he needed to oversee the shipment of new weapons from their insider at Stark Industries. He could hear his satellite phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered, "Hello?"
"Hello, Arash." The deep voice said. He knew immediately who it was. Their insider from Stark Industries.
The man continued, "Your target will arrive at the previously mentioned location within eight hours. Be ready, he'll be giving the weapon's presentation." He hung up quickly.
Arash was extremely curious to know who it was that their contact wanted to get rid of so quickly, but obviously, he wasn't going to call back and demand to know who he was supposed to knock off. He didn't want to spoil his goods coming from Stark Industries, so there was no point in risking it.
He radioed the leaders under him and told them their positions and when to be ready for the attack. He positioned some of his people above where they were rumored to be testing a new missile. He wanted pictures of this new weapon.
Tony and Rhodey finally arrived in Afghanistan. They stepped off their plane and said hello. The plane ride had gone well, with only a few silly arguments that Rhodey brought up, but Tony was able to deflect them all. Sort of. Rhodey still held a grudge.
"Welcome, Mr. Stark. We look forward to your weapons presentation." The General said, shaking Tony's hand.
"Thank you." Tony said politely.
They headed for the place they were going to give the presentation, taking a long drive out into the desert. Tony squinted out into the bright noon day that lay across the sand covered terrace. He recognized it. He could just make out the outline of the mountain range, where he knew a huge crater still lay. Gene. It had been so long, too long. He had forgotten the importance of the deadly force that Gene had discovered. He had forgotten that just because the Ten Rings were gone and destroyed, something else that was powerful would just take its' place. He was reminding himself of this when one of the guards tapped him on the shoulder to let him know they had arrived.
"Is it better to be feared or respected?" Tony asked the little crowd of people before him. "I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology." He paused, "Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves."
Rhodey watched as they prepared the missile, selecting a target, and sending one of the giant destructive explosives straight toward the mountain range. "I guess we'll just add another crater to the desert terrain." Rhodey whispered under his breath, thinking of Gene and the ordeal they had been through several years ago.
The missile whistled through the air, letting out hundreds of tiny missiles at the same time, sending them all into the mountainside.
"For your consideration, the Jericho." Tony said, throwing his arms out as a huge aftershock wave of sand and dust blew in from behind him. He stepped forward to balance himself, then headed straight back for the hummers.
'The sooner you leave, the sooner you come home.' He recalled Pepper's words and felt an urgency to get back. Back home. Back to Pepper.
"To peace!" He called behind him and got into the hummer.
Rhodey came up at the window, "This is the 'fun-vee', the 'humdrum-vee' is back there." Tony said, laughing. Rhodey gave a reluctant smile, "Hey Tony, nice job."
Tony nodded, "See you back at base."
Arash whispered into the radio, "Who was the man giving the presentation?" He listened for a minute before receiving a quick, soft answer.
"Tony Stark."
The hummer was filled with Tony's jokes and the laughs of the soldiers that were accompanying him.
"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" The soldier next to Tony asked.
"Yes. It's very cool." Tony said, smiling. "I don't want to see this on your MySpace page." He jokes.
The guard threw up a peace sign, "Please, no gang signs." Tony started laughing immediately after, even though the guard thought he had been serious. "No, throw it up, I'm kidding!"
They waited for a flash from the camera, but it never came. "Come on. Hurry up! Just click it, don't change any of the settings-" Just as he had finished his sentence, a giant explosion lit up right in front of them, pieces of the hummer they had been following hit their car.
Tony was completely caught off guard, and he hadn't even thought to bring his suit. Why? Because a few weeks before Pepper had begged him to take a break from it, and...well, people would notice, and realize he was Iron Man, and he wasn't ready for the world to know that piece of information quite yet. Even though he couldn't bring his suit, Pepper had demanded that he wear a bullet proof vest.
"What's going on?" Tony called.
"Contact left!" A woman soldier yelled as she got out of the hummer, she had barely gotten two feet before bullets rained through her body. Tony felt completely helpless. This was not supposed to happen.
"Jimmy, stay with Stark!" One of the other guards yelled as he got out of the hummer as well. He was also gunned down within moments.
The remaining soldier turned to him, "Stay down!" He yelled and cocked his gun, kicked open the door and barely got out before bullets went through the entire vehicle, narrowly missing Tony.
He had to get out of here, he thought for sure that at any moment the hummer he was in would explode, and he would go up in a ball of flames along with the car.
He pushed open the door and stumbled out, dust was flying everywhere and he could hear the gunfire all around him. He jumped behind a rock and pulled out his phone (AN: I totally own that phone!) trying to call anyone he could that would help. In the middle of dialing a number, he heard a thud about five yards to his right. He looked up quickly, startled by the name carefully printed across the side of a missile imbedded in the ground. It read 'Stark Industries'.
Before he could really survey what was before him, he knew he had to get out of the way, or he would no longer exist.
Tony jumped up, heading for anywhere except where he was just sitting. Before he could make it past fifteen feet, he was blown through the air and hit the ground solidly.
He laid there for just a minute before starting to register the pain, he pulled his head up off the ground and started to pull open his shirt to assess the damage, he could barely see the blood starting to seep through some of the kevlar bulletproof vest. The last thing he thought of as he started to seep into unconsciousness was, 'Thank you, Pepper.' and his mind drifted off. His arc reactor hummed quietly, the glow covered by the kevlar vest.
Pepper's day was going well so far. She made a call to her dad and talked about a good time to visit mom's gravesite. He wished her a happy birthday, and then dropped a bomb.
"Pepper...I know it's your birthday, and I hate to tell you today, but the cancer I had five years ago has come out of remission." He said sadly. Colon cancer, one of the number one killers.
Pepper closed her eyes, letting the news rush over her. "Dad, when did you see the doctor?" She asked.
"Well, I was having some pain so I went in, and he said its come back." He paused, "Pepper, there's no chance I'm going to survive this."
"How long do you have?" She choked out.
"Months." He said, Pepper could hear the sadness in his voice. "But I'll see your mother again and tell her hello for you."
She could imagine the smile he was wearing on his face over the phone. "Thanks dad." Pepper couldn't help but start to sob. She tried hard to stifle it, so that he couldn't hear her pain.
"Pepper, I know you're sad, please try not to be." He sighed, "The only thing keeping me going is you and the thought of possibly seeing your mother again. It'll be okay."
Pepper nodded, tears running down her cheeks. Then she realized he couldn't see her, "Right, yes, I know." She found herself saying.
They talked about some other things for awhile, helping them both to lighten up a bit, even though it still wasn't the same. Pepper and her father finally hung up. She was so reluctant to hang up, like once she did, she would never hear from him again.
The only thing she could think of was her dad. She could remember the first time he had called, only months after she had taken the job with Tony, and told her the bad news that he had colon cancer. But at least he had caught it soon, right?
"I guess it didn't really matter..." Pepper said to herself. This was just too much to handle. Tony going to Afghanistan, her dad getting cancer again. Things seemed to be falling apart. At least Tony would be home by tomorrow morning, he would know how to make her feel better.
She went through the day, doing work, but allowing herself to get off early and start another romance novel.
"This is pathetic." She said quietly. She found herself wishing that Tony was home, that they could celebrate her birthday together. She had told him earlier this morning that she had plans...yeah right. She chuckled to herself, shaking her head. This was a boring birthday. But it wasn't like it was a big deal, she was turning 35, it wasn't like the big 40 or 50. Just another birthday...
Pepper told herself these things over and over that day until later that night when she decided to turn on the TV. She still sat at the mansion, not wanting to leave quite yet. Something held her there, she wasn't quite sure what it was.
Pepper heard the constant ringing of a phone penetrate her dreams.
"What time is it?" She asked to no one in particular.
"It is one o'clock in the morning, Miss Potts." Jarvis's voice sounded.
Pepper was completely startled, she had forgotten that she was still at the mansion, asleep on the couch.
Suddenly, the mansion's phone rang again. She let out a sigh, and picked up the nearest phone. The caller I.D. said that it was Rhodey.
"That's odd..." She said quietly. She pressed Call, answering it.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Pepper!" Rhodey said, relieved, "I called your cell and the mansion a few times, but you didn't answer." He said quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't have it on me-"
"Pepper, Tony's missing." Rhodey cut her off.
Pepper didn't say anything for a few seconds, "What?" She asked hoarsely, her heart seemed to stop.
"There was an attack, we can't find him..." Rhodey said sadly.
Pepper's mouth fell open, "No! No, he's there. He has to be!" Pepper yelled in disbelief, shooting up from the couch and pacing the room.
"Pepper, we searched for hours after it was clear. There was no sign of him." Rhodey choked.
"No! Go back out there right now! Look for him! He's there! You just didn't look hard enough. You didn't see him!" She was almost screaming into the phone, she was choking out words, falling to the floor beside the couch. "You have to find him..." She sobbed.
"Pepper, I'm so sorry. We won't stop looking for him. I promise." He said, she could almost see the tears running down Rhodey's face, but trying to act strong for her. Thousands of miles away. She had no one but Jarvis to comfort her.
"Please, you have to find him, Rhodey." She sobbed.
"I will, Pepper. I will." He said softly. They said their goodbyes and hung up.
Pepper laid down on the floor and cried. She could hear his words penetrate her mind from only a few weeks ago. 'I'll be fine, I'll come back. I promise.'
'I promise. I promise. I promise.' His words echoed over and over again in her mind.
"He promised..." She cried, digging her fist into the carpet. "Why? Why?" She laid there for what seemed like an eternity. She got up after two hours and called her dad. It was now three in the morning, in New York it would be almost six in the morning. Hopefully he would answer.
They talked for awhile, her father trying to help Pepper get through her initial shock, and cope with the possibility that he may not be back.
"He'll be back, dad." Pepper said quietly.
"I know Pepper." He said, just as quietly. "Just go about as you normally would, and try to keep things in order until he gets back. He's counting on you to keep things in check." She knew her father was humoring her, but it felt good to know that he knew that she needed to hear that Tony would come back.
After hanging up with her father, she went out to the back balcony and stood, looking over the water. "Tony...where are you?"
Wah wah. What a horrible birthday for Pepper! :'( I hope you liked (or maybe in this case...hated it...poor Pepper!) this chapter! Review please and thank you!