I am SOOOOOO sorry! It's been FOREVER since I've updated last. I feel bad. It's been SO busy lately with work and home life that I can't catch a break! Hope you're still following this.
Chapter Fourteen
A few days passed and all Tony was doing was working on the Iron Man armor. It was early evening when Pepper came downstairs.
"Obadiah's here, didn't you hear me ringing for you?" She asked.
Tony looked up from what he was doing, "What? Oh. No, I didn't. I'll be up in just a minute."
Pepper nodded and made her way back upstairs. Obadiah was fingering some keys on the piano, playing a short tune while Pepper worked on the never ending e-mails.
Tony finally made an appearance, "Hey Obie." He said as he sat down on the couch. "Oh wow! You brought pizza!" He opened the box and took a piece.
"Got it all the way from New York. Why didn't you come to the Board of Directors meeting?" Obadiah asked.
Tony looked surprised, "I didn't know there was one. You told me to lay low. When we talked on the phone yesterday."
Obadiah rolled his eyes, "Okay, well, since you weren't there, they've filed an injunction. They're going to lock you out."
Tony's mouth dropped. "What? I'm doing what's good for me-the company! Obie, someone's-"
"I don't want to hear it, Tony. We need to clean up this mess. And that starts with you, starting up the weapons manufacturing again." Obadiah said, leaning back on the couch.
"I'm not going to do that. Not until I figure things out." Tony said.
Pepper sat on the other end of the couch, feeling a little awkward.
Obadiah took a deep breath, "I hope you know exactly what you're doing Tony. Because this could get a whole lot worse if you don't do something fast."
Tony nodded, "Don't worry so much, Obie. I'll have it figured out."
Obadiah got up and left, leaving the slightly cold pizza with Tony.
Days later, Tony was still working on the suit, updating it and taking a few things from other armor sets and adding it to his, including some repulsors from Rhodey's suit and adding it to his own damaged ones. He also took some of the power core and added it to his own, for more back up power in case his new reactor seemed to fail. He hadn't tested it quite yet with the suit.
Tony turned on the TV and listened to the News. "Tonight's red-hot red carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighter's Family Fund has become the place to be for L.A.'s high society."
Tony frowned at the TV, "Jarvis, did we get an invite for that?"
"I have no record of an invitation, sir." Jarvis said.
"...hasn't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference. Some claim he's suffering from post-traumatic stress and has been bedridden for weeks. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight." The woman continued on the TV.
"Really? This is ridiculous." Tony said, shaking his head and heading up the stairs to his bedroom to wash up and change.
Obadiah stood on the steps leading to the concert hall, talking to some reporters. "Weapons manufacturing is only one small part of what Stark Industries is all about, and our partnership with the fire and rescue community..." He trailed off as he saw Tony walking toward him.
"What's the world coming to when a guy's got to crash his own party?" Tony said with a grin.
"Look at you. Hey, what a surprise." Obadiah said with some, what was that, distain? Tony thought that's what he picked up.
"Hey listen, I've got the board right where we want them, so take it slow." Obadiah said quietly.
"Oh ya, sure. No problem." Tony said, patting Stane on the shoulder and going up toward the concert hall.
Tony walked in and went up to the counter, about to order something. "Mr. Stark?" He heard from his left.
"Yeah?" He asked as he turned toward the source of the voice.
"Agent Coulson." He paused, "I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you. There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things."
Tony nodded, "Yes, of course." He looked out over the hall and noticed a very pretty looking red head talking with a group of people.
He blinked a couple of times, making sure it really was Pepper.
"Tell you what, you got it. You're absolutely right. I'm going to go to my assistant, and we'll...make a date." He said, completely distracted.
"You look fantastic!" Tony said as he came up next to Pepper, "I almost didn't recognize you." Tony said with a wink. Pepper was wearing a smoky blue silk gown, and her red hair was curled in loose ringlets. She looked genuinely surprised to see Tony there.
"What are you doing here?" Pepper asked.
"Just avoiding government agents." Tony smiled, nodding in the direction of Agent Coulson.
"Are you by yourself?" She asked, concerned.
"Yes. Where'd you get that dress?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, it was a birthday present." She said with a smile.
"That's great." Tony's heart sunk. Some guy probably gave it to her. Maybe it was Agent Coulson...Bah! Tony couldn't help but start to chuckle when he thought of that.
"From you, actually." Pepper threw in.
Tony's eyebrows raised and he smiled, "Well, I have great taste."
He grabbed her hand, "You want to dance?"
"Oh, no." Pepper said, she was a horrible dancer.
"All right, come on." He pulled her to the dance floor, taking her hand in his and spinning her around.
"Oh my word. You know I can't dance, Tony." Pepper said, but still smiled.
Tony smirked, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"
"Oh no, of course not." Pepper stated.
"Sure, sure..." Tony teased.
They danced for a couple of minutes before Pepper heard a familiar ringtone coming from her purse.
Pepper frowned, "I don't know what it could be for..."
Tony was about to say something when Pepper gasped and hurriedly walked toward a table and picked up her purse.
Pepper went around the corner with Tony hot on her heels. She answered her cell phone. "Hello?" She asked, her heart pounding.
"Is this Virginia Patricia Potts?" A woman asked.
"Yes, yes. This is her." She said. Her heart sunk.
"Miss Potts...your father listed you as his only remaining family, and to contact you if anything happened."
Pepper held her breath.
"I'm so sorry, but your father passed away today. Just a couple of hours ago." The woman sounded genuinely sorry.
Pepper tried to stifle a cry. "Thank you for letting me know." She choked out. Of all the nights, this one just had to be it.
Tony took her free hand in his, knowing something was wrong.
"We'll need you to come here to New York for the funeral plans. Do you know when you could be here?" She asked.
"I'm not quite sure yet, may I call you back tomorrow morning?" She asked, hopeful.
"Yes, of course." She replied.
They hung up a moment later, Pepper set the phone down.
She turned to Tony, her eyes filling with tears. "My father passed away just a few hours ago." She said through trembling lips.
Tony didn't say a word, but pulled her to him in a hug. She clung to him, crying quietly into his shirt.
"You've been through so much, recently, Pepper. Why don't we head home?" Tony asked, running his fingers through her hair.
He could feel her nod against his chest. "Ya? Okay. Let's go." Tony led her out of the concert hall, slipping around the back.
A reporter ran up to Tony, "Mr. Stark! Can you explain this?" He asked, shoving some pictures right under Tony's nose.
"Excuse me, but we're leaving." Tony said, Pepper wiped her eyes quickly.
"So much for being responsible!" The reporter said, waving the pictures.
Tony stopped walking, "What?" He asked, confused.
Pepper stood behind Tony, but could see the pictures the man was holding. Tony snatched them out of his hand and squinted at them under the light of the street lamps.
"When were these taken?" He asked.
"Yesterday." The man answered.
"I didn't approve any shipment." He said, his anger rising.
"Well your company did." The reporter shot out.
"Well, I'm not my company." Tony shot back. He slapped the pictures back down in the reporter's hands, and started heading for the car, taking Pepper's arm in his.
"What just happened? Do we need to go back there?" Pepper asked, looking over her shoulder.
"All I'm going to worry about, is getting you home." Tony said, trying not to think about what just happened.
"No, Tony. I'm fine. Let's go back so you can talk to Obadiah, see if he knows anything about it." Pepper started pulling him in the opposite direction.
Tony sighed, "Why isn't my life easy?" He asked.
"Because you're Tony Stark." She said, smiling through her tears.
Tony found Obadiah on the steps leading to the concert hall, "Please, do you mind?" Obadiah said, pushing a microphone away from his face.
"Have you seen these pictures?" Tony asked in a low voice. "What's going on in Gulmira?" He asked, he needed answers, and he needed them now.
"Tony, Tony. You can't afford to be this naive." Obadiah said with a small smile.
"You know what? I was naive before, when they said, 'Here's the line. We don't cross it. This is how we do business.'" Tony paused, "If we're double-dealing under the table...Are we?" He asked, hoping the answer was no, that this was just some sort of mix up.
"Let's take a picture! Come on, picture time!" Obadiah said, turning the both of them toward the cameras.
Obadiah leaned in close to Tony's ear, "Tony. Who do you think locked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction against you. It was the only way I could protect you."
Tony stood there in shock. Really, he should have expected this. This was exactly how the old Obadiah had been. Why was he surprised now? He truly thought Obadiah had changed. Boy was he wrong.
Tony whipped around before reporters could ask him anymore questions. He grabbed Pepper's hand and headed for the car.
Obadiah stood off to the side, watching Tony take Pepper's hand and walk away with her. "How special." He said, a small smile forming on his face.
Pepper was completely distraught, nothing was working out for her, and Tony was in shock and fuming with anger.
Except for seeing Pepper looking absolutely beautiful at the concert hall, this was probably one of the worst nights of his life. They got in Tony's car and headed home. It was about a 45 minute drive. Maybe a little more, depending on traffic.
Tony's hand was still locked with Pepper's. He could hear her sniffle every now and then. After awhile, Tony couldn't hear anything from her. He looked over and saw that she had fallen asleep.
They arrived at the mansion an hour after leaving the concert hall. Tony pulled up into the garage, got out of the car and headed to Pepper's side.
He opened the door and unbuckled her seatbelt. He slid his arms around her, one behind her back and one under her knees. Tony lifted her from the car, closing it with his foot and heading for the stairs.
Pepper's head lolled up against his shoulder as he climbed the stairs. He was trying hard not to wake her. He made it to the living room when his arms started to ache. The closest guest room was further down the hallway. His bedroom was just around the corner.
Tony took a deep breath, making a decision, and headed in the direction of his bedroom. He laid Pepper down on his bed and took off her shoes.
He knelt down by her, brushing some bangs out of her eyes, "Pepper..." He said, trying to wake her.
"Hmmm?" She hummed.
"Do you want to sleep in the dress that I supposedly got for you? Or would you like me to grab you some sweats?" Tony asked quietly.
"Sweats..." She mumbled, her eyes still closed.
Tony got up and searched through his dresser for some sweats. He found some and set them by Pepper, then left the room.
Tony went into the living room and turned on the TV, watching for some news on Gulmira.
Tony frowned when he heard the door to his bedroom open. "Tony?" He heard Pepper whisper. He looked up to see her dressed in his sweats. Her eyes were red, and there were tear streaks all down her cheeks. She had started crying again.
Tony stood from the couch and walked over to her, giving her a hug, "I'm so sorry, Pepper." They stood, hugging each other for a few minutes.
"Maybe you should try to go to sleep?" Tony suggested.
Pepper looked up at him, "I don't want to be alone." She said quietly, more tears coming to her eyes.
Tony wiped some tears away, turned off the TV, and walked with Pepper back to his room. Tony and Pepper laid down in his bed. He pulled the covers up around them both, Tony was still in his nice shirt and dress pants.
"You don't want to change?" Pepper asked.
"Nah. I'm too tired." Tony yawned. Truth was, he wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep at all tonight. There was too much information bumping around in his head.
"Okay..." Pepper said, her eyelids drooping. Tony watched as Pepper's eyes closed, he reached out and slid his fingers through her strawberry hair. "Good night, Pepper." Tony leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead.
Surprisingly, Tony slept that night. And quite peacefully.
Tony woke the next morning with his arm draped over Pepper, and they were a lot closer. Tony got up from the bed, careful not to wake Pepper and went into the living room, turning the TV on again and switching it to the news.
"The 15 mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern day Heart of Darkness. Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power. Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant." The woman reporting turned around, glancing at the people making the trek behind her.
"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings. As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way. With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees. Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either forced to join their militia...a child's simple question, 'Where are my mother and father?'" Tony pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I am responsible for this." Tony said to himself. He ran down to the basement where his armor was located.
Tony suited up and shot through a designated hole, heading straight for Gulmira, Afghanistan.
Tony arrived in Gulmira, seeing the destruction and havoc that was being wreaked there. He threw a few people, and when they started taking hostages, he targeted each of the terrorists faces and shot at them. He hadn't really been keen on killing people, but this was a war, and these men would only cause more trouble later on if he let them live.
He used his infrared screen to find anyone hiding in the buildings around them. He spotted someone behind a wall lifting up some kind of device. A satellite phone. Tony pounded through the wall and grabbed the man by the coat, pulling him out and landing him in the middle of the dirt road. "He's all yours." Tony said, glancing back and recognizing the man lying on the ground. He was the one back in the caves, the one that had almost drowned him in a tub of water.
He took a deep breath and shot into the sky, searching for the Jericho Missile he had seen in the photos that the reporter had taken.
He found them a few miles away and shot a small missile at it, blowing it to smithereens. A second later, a shot from a tank rang out, hitting Tony and sending him right into the ground.
Tony shook his head and got up out of the crater that he had just pulverized into the ground. He shot another small missile at the Tank, blowing it to pieces.
Pepper's eyes shot open, "Tony!" She yelled, waking up and looking around. No Tony. She started to panic for just a moment before remembering everything from Tony's arrival from Afghanistan to the news that her dad had passed away the day before.
Pepper sighed and got out of bed, she padded down the hall, "Tony?" She called.
"Jarvis, where's Tony?" She asked.
"Mr. Stark has left on a mission. He will be back in approximately three hours." Jarvis stated.
Pepper rolled her eyes, "Where did he leave to?" She asked.
"Afghanistan." Jarvis said.
Pepper felt like she had been hit in the stomach, "What?" She yelled, "I can't believe he went back there!" She fumed.
"Miss Potts, he is destroying the weapons that were sent there illegally." Jarvis piped up again.
She took a deep breath, "Thank you, Jarvis. I guess I'll just have to wait for him."
Tony arrived home completely tired. His machines took his armor off and as he turned around he was startled to see an angry looking Pepper Potts right in front of him.
"Tony..." She said, dangerously quiet.
"Pepper, I'm sorry." He said, grimacing.
"I know where you went, I know you were destroying the weapons that they obtained illegally, but I can't help but be upset. And I know that you know why." Pepper pointed at him accusingly.
"I do. And I'm sorry, Pepper. I had to." Tony said, stepping closer to her.
"I know. You always do." Pepper looked up at Tony, patted the arc reactor imbedded in his chest, and turned to go upstairs.
Pepper called the woman in New York to let her know she would be there to do funeral arrangements for her father. Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper all got on Tony's private jet and flew to New York, on the way, Pepper wrote her father's obituary. This was going to be a long plane ride...
Tony heard some sniffling from Pepper in the chair next to him. He laced his fingers through hers, giving her an encouraging smile. Rhodey placed a hand on her shoulder, "You'll be fine. Everything will be okay."
Pepper nodded, "Thanks, Rhodey. I appreciate you guys coming with me."
"We would never leave you to do this alone." Tony said, "We're with you all the way."
The funeral was two days later at the mortuary, and it went smoothly. The director of the FBI spoke at his funeral, along with a few short words from Tony and Rhodey, then Pepper stood, tears falling down her face as she talked about her father and the love he had had for her mother and herself.
The funeral ended, and Pepper, Tony, and Rhodey headed for the cemetery where her father would be buried.
Almost all of them fell asleep on the plane ride home. Except for Tony, of course. What was he going to do about Obadiah? About what was happening with the company? They were dealing under the table, and he had to figure out a way to stop them. Even if it meant still going to Afghanistan with the armor and blowing up every weapon that had been sold to them.
On the other side of the world, a large vehicle pulled up to a makeshift camp. Doors opened, and out stepped...Obadiah Stane. He had taken advantage of the few days that Tony and his friends were gone in New York for a funeral to leave for Afghanistan. He and his men made their way to a large tent.
"Welcome." Arash said, opening the tent for Mr. Stane. Obadiah noticed the large burns and blood on the side of his head. "Compliments of Tony Stark." Arash said, motioning at the side of his face.
"If you'd killed him when you were supposed to, you'd still have a face." Obadiah snarled.
"You paid us trinkets to kill a prince." Arash said venomously.
"Show me the weapon." Stane said, ignoring Arash.
"Come. Leave your guards outside." He led Obadiah further into the tent, "His escape bore unexpected fruit."
"So this is how he did it..." Obadiah pondered, "Tony Stark is Iron Man." Having said it, he truly wasn't all that surprised. It made sense.
"Stark has made a masterpiece of death. Now we know who is capable of making this, and a man with a dozen of these, can rule all of Asia." Arash smiled at the thought. "We have a common enemy. If you are still in business, I will give you these designs as a gift. And in turn, I hope you'll repay me with a gift of iron soldiers."
Arash turned to look at Stane, but heard an intense high pitched sound penetrating his ear. He could feel his muscles lock, and his breath grow short.
Obadiah leaned over with some kind of device, and he had ear plugs in his ears. He took them out and looked at Arash, "Technology..." He sighed, "It's always been your Achilles' heel in this part of the world. Don't worry. It'll only last for fifteen minutes. That's the least of your problems." He patted his shoulder and left the tent, yelling to his men to crate up the armor, "All right, let's finish up here." A number of gunshots rang out in the night.
Obadiah got in the car and called one of his men back at Stark Industries. "Set up a Sector underneath the arc reactor, and I'm going to want this data masked. Recruit our top engineers. I want a prototype right away."
Only a few days later, Pepper walked down to the basement where she spotted Tony working on the Iron Man suit.
She stepped into the work space, about to say something, but Tony beat her to it.
"Hey! Are you busy at the moment?" He asked quickly.
"Uh...Well, not exactly." Pepper said, waiting to hear what he wanted.
"Do you mind if I send you on an errand? I need you to go to my office." Tony said, turning from the armor and grabbing something.
"You're going to need to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests." He paused, setting down some kind of device.
"This is a lock chip. This'll get you in. It's probably under Executive Files. If not, they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you need to look for the lowest numeric heading." Tony looked up at Pepper, who seemed a little surprised.
"You want me to break in to your own computer?" She asked, confused.
"I'm really suspicious of Obadiah. Will you do this for me?" Tony asked, hoping she would.
Pepper took a deep breath, "And if I get this information, what do you plan on doing with it?"
"They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them." Tony said.
Pepper nodded, "Okay."
"Okay?" Tony was confused. He had prepared himself for an argument with her.
"Yes." She smiled, "Besides, I'm good at it. I broke into my dad's computer and got to FBI files all the time." Her eyes seemed like they were looking far away, into the past.
Tony smiled, he could always count on Pepper. "Information is what I do." She said, "But Tony, please be careful. I don't want you to kill yourself with the information that I bring back."
She paused, looking Tony straight in the eyes, "You're all I have too, you know."
Tony met her gaze and smiled sadly, "I know." He paused, "Please be careful. I don't know what Obadiah has in mind for either one of us, if he's the one behind this."
Pepper nodded, "Of course. I'll use my amazing S.H.I.E.L.D. skills." She joked, walking toward the door, glancing back at a still smiling Tony.
Oh boy! What's going to happen next?...Reviews please!