Sorry it's been so long, I've been hella busy lately.
Anyway, read and review :D
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Chapter 13
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'At least he recognizes me,' Pepper thought as she sat on the edge of a still drowsy Tony's bed. He'd been awake for several hours, most of which had been used to take extensive tests, X-rays and MRI's.
Aaron mewled quietly in his sleep, as he nuzzled into his sleeping father's chest. Smiling down at her little family, she mentally waxed poetic as she thought of the years she'd known this boy-no man- he was a man now. Two years might be relatively short in the long run, but to her it made the difference between being a hyperactive child and becoming a wife, mother and skilled S.H.I.E.L.D agent. For Tony it might just be what brings his promising life to a standstill. It might just be his decision to become Iron Man that leaves him a vegetable for the rest of his life.
The door opened just then, interrupting her morose thoughts.
Looking up at the man in the white coat she raised an eyebrow at the way he rubbed the back of his neck in confusion while reading a report.
"Your husband is a remarkable young man Mrs. Stark," the doctor began, "From what I understand he wouldn't have survived without the upgrades he made to himself. It's not thing short of amazing-"
"He's my husband, I know he's remarkable. Can you please tell me what's wrong with him?!" Pepper snapped before sighing, "Sorry, I'm just really worried about him."
The doctor blinked in surprised before nodding in understanding, "The toxin that the nanobots released DID cause the very top layer of his brain to be eaten away-"
"-Oh god no," Pepper covered her mouth with her hand, the bile burning the back of her throat as she realized that Tony was likely-
"Mrs. Stark please, I'm trying to explain what happened," the doctor stopped her, "As I was saying, if your husband was a normal human, he'd be dead. However, Extremis seems to have regenerated his brain, cell for cell that was destroyed with a titanium-vibranium alloy. It broke down a small portion of his internal armor reservoirs and –this is the mind blowing part-built a fully functioning neural network of metal based cells and neurons. The organic portion of his brain that survived is encased by a nearly indestructible computer."
Pepper blinked in surprised, "So-so he's going to be alright?"
The doctor smiled, "As far as we can tell, he's going to be better than alright. He was a genius before and now he basically has a super computer connected to his brain. Now it may take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks or even months before the outer portion of the brain and the organic inner portion are completely in-sync, but all that means is that he'll be tired, having mood swings and might zone out while new synaptic connections form."
"So basically he'll be himself?" Pepper smirked, her depression lifting at the realization that the man she loved would be better than fine.
The doctor laughed, "I suppose so, when he makes up just let him know that he's on doctor's orders not to do any superhero work for at least two months."
"I'll let him know. Besides, he'll be too busy assuming the position of CEO at Stark International to deal with being Iron Man for a while," Pepper replied.
"Heh," The doctor huffed with amusement, "You're both 18 and you're already superheroes, spies, parents and the owners of a fortune five hundred company. It's mind boggling. When I was your age I was trying to figure if I wanted to go to college or cooking school."
With a wan smile Pepper replied, "It wasn't exactly something we planned. We started out as normal kids in high school and the circumstances kind of spiraled out of control and we fell in love and before we knew it we were saving the world and fighting bad guys and I was pregnant and we got married. I worry that'll it's going to fall apart and I'll be a single mother at 18. Sorry I'm dumping all my worries on you…"
"No- it's alright, this must be hard," the doctor assured, "I'm just glad that the world has people like you two in it. Well it was nice meeting you, but I have other patients to attend."
With that the doctor turned and left the room leaving Pepper once more to her thoughts.
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Upon waking up he had found himself in a dry thatch hut, with a withered old woman shaking a bean filled coconut on a stick, over his broken leg. Since then, Howard had been trying to find a way to communicate with the tribespeople for the better part of the week. Unfortunately, their chosen language did not seem to have a root in common with any language he'd learned. Therefore he'd become consummate at charades.
He'd already found that, no, they did NOT have a ring ring talk banana (Phone). Luckily one of the older men had made friends with a lost logger years ago and had learned a few words of Spanish. Not enough to do more than let the man know when he had to use the latrine hut or when he was hungry/thirsty. To his amusement he could say bird. Something the tribesmen took great pride in.
"Gulo mana bird. Bird big like rumogara," 'Hank' as Howard called him, continue his story.
"Yes, Big bird, fascinating," Howard replied as politely as possible. He couldn't do anything but sit here and listen as he waited for his knee to heal, all the while hoping that Gene's men didn't find him first.
"Big bird like yours, vroom vroom bird go," Hank continued.
"Yes, bird goes vroom vroom," Howard repeated absent mindedly, "Just like mine-wait what?"
"You fall with bird. Just like bird with square food come each moon," Hank said excitedly, happy that his new friend was suddenly so enthusiastic.
"Big bird? Birds don't go vroom. The big bird that comes with square food, does it look like the bird I fell into the lake with?" Howard nearly begged.
Apparently, the only reason he'd been found was because several men from the tribe who had been out hunting had been nearby when his helicopter had crashed into the lake. They'd pulled him out of the water after he'd passed out and taken him to their village.
"Si, but bird no go boom," Hank smiled, "Bird men bring square food each time moon is bright."
Square food? Did he mean a crate? Was it a cargo drop to the tribe. Yes that was likely.
"When are the bird men coming again?" Howard asked quickly.
Hank smiled, "Bird men come when moon is bright. Moon was bright two sun deaths ago. You sleep through bird men bring food."
Howard nearly screamed in frustration, "Why didn't you wake me up?!"
"Sick bird man need rest, you see other bird men when the moon is bright. No worry," Hank smiled as he stood up and clapped him on the shoulder, "Food time. I bring food."
Raising a hand he rubbed the palms of his hand over the beginnings of a beard. He hoped he didn't go nuts before the next bird men- oh fuck now he was thinking like that-He hoped he didn't go nuts before the cargo drop came on the next full moon.
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A week later Tony had been discharged from the S.H.I.E.L.D infirmary and was putting on a business suit to face his first board meeting.
"It's under then over," Pepper said as she pushed Tony's hand away and fixed his tie. It was something he'd yet to re-master after the coma. Luckily it seemed like it was only the little things that he forgot.
She tied his tie and then watched with a smile as he untied it and retied it; his high IQ giving him an advantage on the learning curve. After two tries he seemed to have rememorized the inane little task.
"At least you remembered how to tie your shoes," Pepper teased as she leaned forward and pecked him on the lips.
"It's weird, I feel weird," Tony commented, "I thought I'd be nervous or something. But this just feels normal. Like I was meant to put on a suit and go to board meetings."
Pepper grinned at that before turning to take the brakes off the stroller, "Putting on suits seems to be a talent of yours. We'll see if we can say the same about board meetings."
Tony pulled her back before she could reach the stroller and pressed his lips to hers. His left hand moved to the back of her neck while his other moved to her waist, crushing her to him. Before he could continue Pepper pulled away with a look of longing still on her face.
"Ugh, I want to, but the doctor said not for another week," Pepper answered his unasked request, "Besides, you have a meeting to get to."
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Tony and Pepper agreed that now that Tony was to be control of the company they would come out into the open about their relationship as soon as things settled down. The only reason to keep it a secret was to keep Pepper safe. That point had been made moot as Pepper was now not only able to take care of herself, she was more than qualified to protect others as well. Today she was going to be announced but more as moral support.
And so when Tony got out of the car in front of the Executive elevator in the car garage beneath S.I., Pepper also got with Aaron in his carrier and joined her husband in the elevator. She was going more as moral support
She thought about how much different she looked since she'd found out she was pregnant and left school. Her hair was no longer chopped short and was instead in an intricate bun atop her head. No more was she dressed in childish pink leggings with a too long shirt. Instead she wore a black pencil skirt and a white silk top with four inch black heels and black panty hose. She was actually wearing panty hose. That alone should be a testament to how much she'd matured.
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Whitney smoothed her dress for what must have been the millionth time as she sat to the side of her father's office.
Today was the day that Tony was to take over the company. It was also the first time she'd seen him in nearly a month after he'd disappeared from school with the excuse of 'mono'. She'd kill the girl who gave it to him when she found out who it was.
Her father raised an eyebrow at her fidgeting, he had brought her here to distract the boy. To distract him and make it easier for him to persuade the boy into waiting a few more years before he took the company.
Just a little more time was all he needed and the boy could meet an accident just as easily as his father had. That plane crash had been a stroke of luck. If only it had finished off the boy too.
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"Alright, I want you to wait in the executive lounge with Aaron," Tony requested as the elevator got ready to stop, "No one knows about you yet, and I'd like to get some business out of the way before I make the announcement. God knows the press is going to have a field day with it."
"The question is, are they going to filet me for being a teen mother or are they going to shish kebab me for stealing away such a handsome, rich, genius bachelor?" Pepper smirked. She could handle the press. It's not like she couldn't just change her face on a whim to escape them if she wanted to.
As the elevator dinged and the doors opened she gave her husband one last kiss on the cheek before walking to the door labeled 'Executive Lounge' and quickly stepping in.
Tony started walking in the opposite direction until he reached the doors of the CEO's office suite. Not bothering to knock he pulled open the double doors and stepped in.
"Knock much?" a high feminine voice asked from beside the man he'd come to see.
What was Whitney doing here?
"It's my office, I didn't really see the point. A better question is where is the rest of the board? I thought we were supposed to be meeting with them today to transfer the title of CEO?" Tony asked his eyes narrowing at the empty meeting table situated off to the side of the room.
"I rescheduled them to meet us at 10:30 instead so that I might have a chance to talk to you about some things," Stane explained as he sat down behind the desk and motioned for Tony to do the same across from him.
"I didn't realize it was your prerogative to change my schedule without asking," Tony ground out, "Now what is it you wanted to talk to me about that was so important you delayed my meeting?"
"Honestly, I'm worried about you," Stane said, "I think you're too young to be taking on the stresses of being the CEO of a such a large international corporation. I am hoping to convince you to wait a few more years. Relax, grow up some, and perhaps when you're older and more experienced you will be better prepared to take on the responsibility."
Tony sneered at this, "I'm old enough thanks. In fact if it hadn't been for my father's stipulation, I'd have taken the company as soon as he died. I don't care much for how you run it and I care less for you. You're a snake. A greedy, corrupt bastard that has your fingers in quite a few rotten pies. So no, I won't be waiting a few years."
"Tony please," Whitney cut in, "Wouldn't you rather just be a kid for a while longer? You and I can travel and see the world! Wouldn't you like that?"
He had to force his eyes not to roll as she surreptitiously ran a finger down her neck line to her cleavage.
"No I wouldn't actually, I can travel without you thank you very much," Tony replied, "Why are you even here? Don't you have something better to be doing than whoring yourself out to distract your dad's business rivals?"
The color drained from the blondes face as her expressions looked as if she'd been slapped across the face.
"How dare you speak to my daughter like that?" Stane nearly snarled as his plan was found out.
"How dare YOU sit in MY chair, behind MY desk in MY office and act as if your little plan to get me to post pone today's meeting has to do with anything other than your own selfish desires. You want this company under your thumb, NOT to help me have a childhood I never wanted in the first place," Tony snapped derisively.
The father-daughter duo stared aghast.
"Tony?! I-I thought we were friends! If you do this right now it'll ruin my family. Please reconsider!" Whitney begged changing tactics.
"Ruin your family? That's rich seeing as your father has been embezzling my money and using my company to become a war monger. He's actively endangered lives with his under the table dealings. So honestly, I could care less about what happens to you financially," the teen finished right as the doors to the office opened and nearly twenty board members entered the room.
Adjusting his tie, Tony headed for his new position at the head of the table.
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Tony's first act was to remove Stane from his position as CEO. He didn't demote him back to his original position, he fired him without severance for embezzling funds and using the company's resourced for illegal activities. The smile hadn't left his face since the bastard had been drug from the building. His daughter unfortunately he allowed to stay behind to gather the man's belongings so that he wouldn't have to mail them to him.
His next act was to propose a new branch of medical R&D that would be experimenting with and field testing some of the less dangerous and powerful cyborg implements that he had in his own body. The first being a small patch of the neural network used to connect with his armor. From what little testing he'd done on it, it seemed that as he had joked earlier, it helped stabilize the thought processes of an ADHD person. Work was to begin on that within the week.
His last order of business had been to tell the board that selling weapons of mass destructions was now off the table as an option and that the resourced previously used to develop them was to be redirected into tools of defense and civilian betterment.
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Whitney wanted to cry as she carried the box of her father's things (she'd stolen the stapler) to the break room to get the collection of crystal drink ware he had in there. Stepping in she averted her eyes from the woman with a baby as she headed towards the cabinet to set about her task.
"Whitney? What are you doing here?" the woman asked. Turning her head Whitney finally looked at the woman as she placed the infant back in its carrier.
Pepper Potts?
"Pepper? What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you get sent to a mental hospital or something," Whitney snapped.
"No, I didn't, I got accepted into the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division Intelligence department. Good pay, good benefits and I only have to work when there's a crisis. Figured it was a better deal than having to go to college for four years and then get a low paying job," Pepper smiled at the girls gaping face.
The blonde recovered after a minute, "Okay, but that doesn't explain what you're doing here or why you're babysitting that kid for that matter."
"I'm here with Tony," Pepper smiled prettily. She knew her next words were gonna rip a hole in the shallow bitches heart, "that 'kid' as you put it is Aaron Anthony Stark. Tony and I's son."
The blonde swore, "I don't believe you! Tony doesn't have a son! And if he did it certainly wouldn't be with you!"
Right as she said this the door opened and admitted Tony and a handful of other executives that were fawning over the boy genius.
Tony froze as he heard her words.
"I was kind enough to let you collect your father's things and you repay me by yelling at and insulting my wife and the mother of my child?" Tony growled.
"No! Tony she's lying, he can't be yours! She probably got knocked up by some guy and lied to you!" Whitney reasoned hysterically, her mascara was running down her face.
"He's mine and I don't appreciate what you're implicating. If you would please call security to have her removed, I'd be much obliged," Tony replied before turning to the assistant that had just been assigned to him. The young man was not much older than him and seemed ecstatic to already have something important to do on his first day as an intern.
Walking over to Pepper he wrapped an arm around her waist and turned to the other executives, "This beautiful woman has gotten me through so much over the years and to top that off just three weeks ago she gave worth to a beautiful baby boy. I'd like you to meet the heir to the Stark fortune, Aaron Anthony Stark."
As the group oohed and awed over their boss and his small family Whitney had to be dragged from the building crying and placed in a taxi.
Perhaps now she would accept that Tony would never be his.
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Hope you liked it.