Chapter 24
Pepper could not think of another time she had had so much fun in her entire life, despite how much her feet were hurting now after how long she had been dancing with Tony tonight. Well, there had been that time when she had earned her first black belt back when she was only ten years old – a great accomplishment according to her father, even though for her it had just been fun to be able to kick and punch people she did not like and not get in trouble. Plus that time she got to pilot the Iron Man armor for the first time – whew, what a blast that had been! Today, however, this very moment in time when Tony twirled her around, laughed with her, and then caught her in his arms when she became dizzy from the sudden dance turns, was much, much, MUCH better than that.
For the two years they had known each other, the redhead and the inventor had truly never had a chance to spend quality time alone together doing something that was not of life-and-death importance. Any time they had been by themselves so far, had been due to her doing research at his lab on some recent criminal activity while he worked on restoring the Iron Man armor. Other times they had been together had been due to them being captured or having gone on a mission, but there was always some important matter happening around them that would get in the way of being able to enjoy their company as she would have liked them to do so all those times: just as they did right now.
This night.
Right now.
This moment.
This moment when they believed that there were no other people in the world but them. As if after tonight they did not have to go their separate ways again. As if he was not Iron Man and she was not Rescue. As if Pepper did not have to return to live with a woman who would be bitter at her for the rest of her life. As if they were normal teenagers whose only worry was when the next major school test would be.
As if Tony had not made a decision that had changed her life against her will, knowledge and agreement.
Even when she had dragged his complaining butt downtown with her to buy shoes, their pretend-date had been interrupted by Andros Stark. Later on that day, Tony had gone back with her to the place where he had dropped her shoes and while most of them had not been taken or scratched, some of them were no longer usable. A few days later, Pepper had received their replacements in the mail, courtesy of a very-sorry Tony Stark, and that night Tony had received a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek for his troubles.
He so hoped that would be the case tonight, too.
Despite the fact that the event was supposed to be limited to Berkeley or MIT students and faculty only, the couple had been able to spot some reporters who had somehow managed to sneak in using fake student ID's. Tony had quickly put a stop to their attempts at getting exclusive pictures of the dancing couple by using Extremis to fry their electronic devices, just as he had learned he could do when he had thought Pepper had died.
It appeared that good things did actually come out from bad ones.
This time, however, there would be no replacing the devices of the reporters who seemed to be stopping at nothing to get a story. Did they not understand that he just wanted to spend some quality time with his redheaded girl? Why did someone always try to meddle in their personal lives?
Get used to it, Stark, he reminded himself. Just as he had told Pepper last night, paparazzi were going to be the norm from now on. Now that he was an adult – and so was she, there was no holding back for the media. His dad had warned him about the faceless enemies, and just as he had feared, the non-super villain enemies were proving to be much more difficult to get rid of than Technovore had been.
But frankly, right now he did not give a damn.
"I can't do this anymore, Tony," the girl said between giggles. She surrounded his shoulders with her arms to support herself, and alternated between lifting one burning foot and the other from the ground. "My feet hurt like hell!"
"Just take the shoes off, Pep!" He responded and surrounded her left thigh with his right arm, pulling it up near his hip as he had seen done on television. "We only have an hour before this is over."
"I think I can spend the last hour sitting down and making fun at the way people dance."
"You mean the same way we're probably being judged right now?"
"I guess so," she responded, tapping her chin with her right index finger. "All the more reason to sit down."
"Alright, Pepper," he let go of her leg. "But you owe me a slow dance," he said and as if on cue, the upbeat music changed to a slow-tempo one. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him, silently questioning if he had any involvement in the changing of the song, but he shook his head vehemently. "Not me, I swear."
"Fine, one last song, but I gotta get these shoes off," the redhead stated.
Tony nodded at her before he kneeled down on the floor, and despite the ginger's complaints that this was not the place to do what he was doing, Tony held her feet firmly in his hands and took off her shoes. By the time he stood up and held her hips with his hands while the shoes dangled from his right pants pocket by their heels, Pepper's face was the same color as her hair.
"Miss Potts," he began with a satisfied smile. "I believe you are embarrassed right now."
"Oh, shut it, Tony," she spat, trying to control her reddening face. "You should really learn when it's OK to do these things, and when it's not."
"Why is it not OK right now? You said your feet hurt, I want another dance with you, and I can help. I don't see what the problem is."
"People are staring!" she said between clenched teeth but did not stop their dance.
"So? Let them stare. It'll save me the trouble of resorting to testing my new invention on them – particularly the guys."
"What new invention?"
"A neutering machine," he smirked.
"Tony!" she smacked his chest. "Stop marking your damn territory; that's so not you."
"Maybe it is me," he suggested. "Maybe I didn't know it was me until I met you."
She blushed again but this time she did not complain and opted to simply pull herself closer to him and closed her eyes, letting him lead the dance. Tony closed his eyes too, snaking his arms around her waist and practically hugging her twice, his chin resting on the top side of her head.
"What's gonna happen now, Tony?" she whispered to him.
"What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow you go back to MIT, and I stay here. How are we going to make this work?"
"Same way we've done so far. See each other when we can. Use the phone when we can't. Spend holidays together."
"How long?"
"How long what?"
"How long will that be enough?"
"Until it's not needed anymore. Until I can make you my…"
"Ladies and gentlemen, what a lovely night, isn't?" Daniel's voice said over the speakers and pulled everyone out of their thoughts. The slow song still played in the background, but it was obvious that the closing of the dance was about to come. The couples that were on the dance floor slowly returned to their tables, and in a matter of seconds everyone's eyes were on the front of the ballroom.
"This has been an amazing Homecoming week," Daniel continued. "I'm so blessed to have been here in Berkeley this year. I think we all had some fun, didn't we?" the student reporter asked and received positive responses from the crowd. "What about you, Janet?"
"It's been incredible," she said with a nod. "But, like we all know, good things must come to an end, and this amazing experience does, too."
"Sadly, you're correct," Daniel said. "But, before we can call it a night, let's take some time to thank those who made it possible, such as SGA, the board members of Berkeley and MIT, the student body of MIT and Berkeley, Iron Man, and of course, the woman who made this all possible – our Queen – Miss Saundra Saunders," Daniel said and pointed to the left side of the stage where Sandra appeared from.
The spotlight followed the blonde who had not been seen during the entire dance until now. She was handed one of the microphones and she waved at her royal subjects with a bright smile. The crowd clapped for her and called out her name, not forgetting to use her title for the year. Once the cheering died down, Sandra cleared her throat and spoke up.
"Thank you, everyone. Let's not forget this is a team effort, and every single one of you made this week what it was: a success. Like Daniel said, I couldn't be prouder to be a Bear, a member of Berkeley University. We all earned our spots here, and we should enjoy the benefits of it, right?"
The masses agreed with the girl, and the redhead and Tony snickered at the way the rich blonde was acting as if the title of Queen was actually real.
"I can't take all the credit, though. Tony Stark has a lot to do with this week's events, even if he's not a Berkeley student, his actions helped this happen for all of us. Thank you, Tony," she said and pointed to the inventor's table. Another spotlight came up and landed on Tony and Pepper, and he smiled and waved at the crowd.
"Thank you, again," Sandra said and she snapped her fingers toward the person handling the spotlight on the hero couple to keep it on them. "I love it when everything goes well, and there is no Queen that doesn't enjoy the good times with her people, but unfortunately not everything can remain perfect forever, right?"
She gave the attendees a moment to process her words, and the inventor's stomach began to churn.
"What I'm trying to say is that as your Queen, I have to be the bearer of good news, and bad, and while I hate to close the day on a sour note, it's my responsibility to unmask the lie we have all been made to believe."
The room went silent and since the spotlight was still on Pepper and Tony, everyone's eyes landed on them.
"As I said before, each and every single one of us here has earned their spot in Berkeley or MIT. We all had to jump through hoops that are in place so that only the best make it to our wonderful university. Many tried to join us and failed because the decision-makers of the Admissions Committee decided that they did not have what it took to join our ranks. Everyone in here earned their right to be here…everyone…but one."
If the couple had not been feeling the pressure building before, they were feeling it now.
"I'm sure most of you think that I'm referring to Tony Stark, but you would be incorrect. Tony Stark did not apply to a multitude of colleges, just one, and MIT made the wise decision of accepting his application as he met and exceeded every requirement on their admissions list.
My concern is not with Tony Stark, however. My concern is Patricia Potts."
The murmuring of the people around them did not wait, and Pepper could feel the pointing fingers as if they were embedding themselves onto her skin.
"Pepper Potts, as we all know her, has been claiming to be here thanks to a scholarship she applied for and earned, making all of us think that she too had to go through the same red tape we all did. Yet, I've discovered that this is not the case." The blonde pointed her palm to the big screen behind her, and it immediately switched from showing her face to showing a copy of a paper that was not immediately recognized by anyone in the room.
She knows, Tony gulped with wide eyes, and felt the questioning eyes of his girlfriend on him.
"This is a copy of the statement of charges for Miss Potts' student account. It may not be clear what we are looking at first glance, but I can explain to you what it says; what it proves. Simply put, someone of limited means such as her would have had to rely on a generous benefactor to fulfill her goal of affording the best education money could buy. This benefactor would have demanded she kept her academic standing to an acceptable level; one I know she would have not been able to maintain. As such, and knowing this, she resorted to less honorable means to pay for her education here at Berkeley: she blackmailed Tony Stark."
The redhead stood up from her chair and shook her head, pointing at Sandra on stage as she spoke. "That's not true! I do have a scholarship that Berkeley gave me! A full ride! You're lying, and I know why you're lying, Saunders!"
"Oh, do you? Am I lying, Potts? Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Potts and I are roommates, and as all of you with a live-in peer, I'm certain you understand that in such small, closed quarters, it is impossible to keep things a secret for long. I have to admit she did keep her Rescue identity a secret for a long time, but I can see how that particular lie was justified. However, she told me – she told all of us that she had been bestowed with an academic scholarship but she was not."
"That's enough out of you, Sandra!" Tony said, trying to stop what he knew was to come.
"But I'm not done, Tony. Why would you want me to not say the truth? Are you ashamed of it…or…maybe…maybe you haven't told her the truth yourself? Is that it?"
Tony's hands went cold when Pepper's head snapped to stare at him with a fearful look on her face. "Tony?"
"Tony Stark," Sandra continued as she walked down the stage and toward the inventor's table. "Has been paying for Miss Potts' education; every expense she has incurred in has been graciously covered by his funds," she stopped in front of Pepper and handed her piece of paper. "See for yourself, Potts."
Pepper snatched the paper from her hands, confirmed that it was in fact her own statement of charges she was holding, and read the lengthy list of transactions on it, every single one showing the same payer's name: SSINC, or Stark Solutions Incorporated. Her eyes shifted from the paper to Sandra, and then to Tony who could not think of anything to say to her right now.
"But it doesn't stop there," the blonde said and walked back to the stage. "I guess one would expect that the wealthy boyfriend of Pepper Potts would have no qualms to subsidize her education, but this act is not all Tony has done for his girlfriend…even before she was his so-called girlfriend."
"She knows everything," Tony mumbled, but in the dead silence around him, Pepper heard his words as clear as day.
"Knows what? Tony, is she telling the truth?"
"The truth shall set you free," Sandra said. "And the whole truth here is that Miss Potts is the one person I was referring to not having to jump through the same hoops we all did to be here. She didn't have to do it because Tony Stark pulled some strings so that she could come here without lifting a finger. She did not take the admissions test. She did not fill out the forms. She did not have to go on an interview. She did not have to meet the academic requirements at all. She is here because he paid the board to have her admitted here, no questions asked…and probably in exchange for the only currency she could give in return: a currency that only a loose woman like her could give…Need I say more? I think their activities behind closed doors are very clear to us."
Pepper's stinging eyes looked over the paper in her hands once more before her body faced Tony's completely. Everyone else in the room was silent and stared at the couple with disappointed faces, and some even went as far as mumbling less than sympathetic words at the redhead.
"Tony," she swallowed hard. "Is this…is this true? All of it?"
Tony swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up. This was not how he had wanted things to go. This was not what he had planned. This was what he had feared would happen all along. "I…" he took in a sharp breath. "I was going to tell you…tonight."
The inventor's confession was followed by a gasp and even louder and ruder comments made themselves known. Pepper tried her best to ignore the roaring of the crowd's accusing words and finger pointing, but with all eyes on her, the proof in her hands, and Tony's guilt-ridden face staring at her, she could not hide herself from the reality of the situation.
"How…could you…?" she bit her lip and blinked, sending the first trails of tears down her cheeks. She crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at his face, and he did not even try to avoid being hit.
"I don't think Miss Potts deserves to be here. What does everyone else think?" Sandra asked and the response from the angry crowd toward the both of them was exactly what she was hoping it would be.
Pepper's eyes scanned the room – or as much as she could with tears blocking her sight. The irritated faces of everyone and the smug smile of accomplishment was the last straw for her, and forgetting she still had no shoes on, she did the only thing she could think to do: she ran.
A/N: AWWW! *cries tears of joy* Thank you all for the responses! I honestly thought this story was so bad no one really gave a crap about it. Thank you all, especially SiverPedals1402 who went back and reviewed every single chapter just now :) Did anyone have a clue this was what Tony had done? Maybe I will finish the story this weekend? Who wants that?