They were in the visitors' area for almost an hour before Pepper was calm enough for them to leave the prison. The moment they stepped outside, Rhodey found himself fighting an urge to commit murder the very moment reporters started to shout questions at Pepper. She was nearly in tears by the time they reached the car. By some mercy, though, they had climbed into the car's inside before Pepper lost her battle and started crying again.

As he wrapped his arm around her, Pepper buried her face into Rhodey's shoulder, and began brokenly sobbing her heart out again as they passed through the prison gates.

"No, don't look at them," he said, cupping the back of her head with his hand when he felt her started to raise her head. It might have been true that he reporters couldn't see them inside the car, but be he didn't see the point of her r looking into their demented faces. Pepper was in enough torment and there was just no way he was going to let her agony she was going through become even the tiniest bit worse if he could stop it from happening!

Once they'd reached the house, Rhodey tried to get Pepper to eat something. She hadn't eaten all day but she told him that she wasn't hungry at all. Instead she told him that she was going to go upstairs to rest.

"Try to get a little sleep maybe?" he had suggested before she could slip upstairs.

She had only nodded a response and continued her way to the upper floor of the house.

But even as she closed the bedroom door behind her, Pepper knew she wouldn't be sleeping, despite the visual promise she'd given to her friend. How could she go to sleep right now? Sleep would only make the precious few hours Tony had left to live pass all the more quickly. All sleep would do is make the time they'd have to return to the prison get here all the more sooner.

How was she supposed to do this? How was she supposed to go sit in a room in the prison and just watch as they brought Tony's life to an end? How was she supposed to live on from the very second they would pronounce him dead? How?

This is… what's happening to Tony, to US is more than wrong, it's an injustice If they

If he dies

I

I love him

And I've loved him for so long now that I can't imagine what my life will be like without him with me. I don't want to know what it's going to be like never to hear my name said again in HIS voice. Oh, I know there's probably recordings somewhere of Tony saying my name, but I hear my name said in his voice, I want it to be LIVE, in person with Tony's arms around me, and not some past recording of him saying my name.

But more than that, I want my children to grow up KNOWING how much Tony loves them firsthand instead of hearing how much their father loved them through memories or stories, or just words being said. I want them to be able to MAKE their own memories of him by being WITH him.

He's my soulmate

Tony is my soulmate

and I don't know what I am going to do if they take him away from me

I don't know how I'll

Why is this happening

How can anyone think that he's capable of this

Yes, I know he was once called the 'Merchant of Death', but that name was because he sold weapon, not because he KILLED people himself

Oh my

Is this payback for Tony?

I mean don't they say God keeps track of everything we do and repays us in the same way we've treated others?

Please God, if this happening because of something Tony's done in the past

Please I am BEGGING YOU!

Let him live!

DON'T TAKE him away from MY CHILDREN!

If you can't save him for me, PLEASE don't make them lose their father.

PLEASE GOD?

PLEASE?

...

Tony, why didn't you tell me about the man who saved your life? What did you say his name was?

Ming?

Ping?

No, neither of those are right!

His name started wit think

Ying?

No, that's not it either

Yen?

Yinsen! That's it!

You said his name was Yinsen!

Why didn't you mention him before, like maybe not right away when you back from over there but sometime later?

Like when we started seriously seeing each other?

Like when we got engaged?

I know I was focused on how we were going to get married back then but couldn't you have found the time, or way to tell me about this man?

Oh well, it's all water under the bridge now

Maybe if you had told one of us, maybe I could have and I or Jim could have backed up your claims about Yinsen's existence, and maybe then things would have

No, I am NOT going to go there!

There's no way of knowing anything short of you pleading guilty for a crime you didn't commit would have saved you from the death penalty

Why didn't you, Tony? Plead I mean?

I know you didn't do it but they would have given you life in prison

KEYWORD LIFE

I know that would've been awful too but at least I wouldn't be facing the possibility of having to explain to your son and daughter that Daddy's never coming home again!

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM THAT, TONY?

CAN YOU ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR ME?

WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST PLEAD?

Why do I keep asking that stupid question? Because I know WHY you didn't plead

You didn't want to give up Iron Man.

Not even for US.

There.

I said it.

You'd really rather let the government kill you than to let them have the armor

I mean you must rather that happen because it is

and soon

WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE JUST LET THEM HAVE IRON MAN

WHY COULDN'T STAYING ALIVE FOR ME US BEEN MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU TONY?

...

You know that I don't hate you for the decision you made right

I just hate the decision you made to keep them from getting Iron Man at all costs

What a cost it's going to be too because I will never be able to LOVE anyone as much as i LOVED you, Tony Stark

It was just a little after eight o'clock when Rhodey approached the Pepper's bedroom and knocked softly on the door. When she didn't respond, he hoped that it meant it's because she'd actually fallen asleep. His hopes were dashed a second later when the door opened, revealing a woman who looked just as haggard with grief as she had been before coming up here to rest.

He cleared his throat, then said simply to let her know what time it was, "We should probably leave in about fifteen minutes."

She nodded, "Okay."

As she went to sit back down on the bed to put on her shoes, Rhodey watched her. He knew she was crying, although he didn't see any tears. Instead her shoulders were shaking, and in the silence of the children's bedroom he could hear her sniffling. She looked so small, so frail, so unlike the woman he had know for decades now that he couldn't help himself, although before now he had he had promised himself that he wasn't going to say anything. But that promise was quickly out the door after hearing the deadness of her voice, after seeing how much more she was suffering the closer they got to…

"You don't have to do this, Pepper."

When she looked at him, and her eyes scared him! They were so dead that they made a shark's eyes look living and vivacious. There was not even one hint of anger in them over the fact he had just suggested that she abandon Tony. Instead, there was a depth of pain he'd only seen in the eyes of victims of senseless violence. Like those trapped in a war zone or even worse: like those who he'd seen victimized by their own so called governments.

"I won't leave him to die all alone, Jim, with only the faces of strangers… people who hate him, to be the only ones looking back at him."

She paused, swallowing hard, then went on, "No, I made a vow to him that I would help him in any way that I could, and if keeping my vow to him means that I will have to… to…" The tears she had been struggling to keep at bay broke out, and the sobs that followed had caused her voice fail her.

Hurrying to sit down beside her on the bed, Rhodey wrapped his arms around her, and gently pulled her towards him until Pepper's head came to rest on his chest. He held her, and let her cry for a few minutes without saying anything, and concentrated on his own breathing to ease the painful tightness there. He only spoke again when he was sure he wasn't going to lose it himself.

"Pepper?" He waited for her to to give some sort of indication that she heard him, and when she didn't after a few seconds, he tried once more, "Pepper, can you hear me?" He felt her nod against him, and then heard what he believed was a soft "Yes."

Rhodey took a breath then began, "You know, when I said that you didn't have to do this, I wasn't trying to suggest that Tony will be left completely alone in this, right?"

He felt her nod.

"You know that I will be there for Tony. I promise you, Pepper, he is not going to have to face this alone. I only said what I said because I know how much this is going to hurt... no I know how much it is already hurting you..."

He stopped speaking, trying to weigh what he needed to say to her very carefully.

"Pepper, I know how much you love Tony, and I know how much he loves you. I also know that you, and Ethan, and Eva are not just his world but the three of you are his entire reason for being. You really are his universe which is why I know him well enough to know that he asked you to not be there tonight because he knows what kind of suffering the memories from watching... that is going to cause you."

"He is my life, my universe too, and if my universe is going to end tonight, I have to be there."

"Pepper-"

She pulled away, suddenly, from him, and looked at him, "No, to whatever it is you're going to say. Yes, I'm angry, and yes this hurts! Oh my… it hurts more than anything I have ever had to go through in my life. I know if I go, I will have the memories of watching him die for as long as I live. But I'd rather be there than be away and then having the regret that I wasn't there for him when he needs me to be there is so much worse. So yes I'd rather have to carry the memory of… of watching him die, than I would having to regret it for the rest of my life that I wasn't there when he needed me."

He stared at her for a long moment, thinking about what she had said, and how she was right. He decided to stop trying to persuade her not to attend the execution. How could he keep trying to get her to do something he knew he'd only regret if he did the same thing? As much as he didn't want to have to sit quietly and watch as they killed his best friend, Rhodey also knew there was nowhere else he could be tonight except sitting in the witness room.

Finally, Rhodey nodded and then stood up, extending his hand towards her, "Come on,we better go down before Happy starts-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as they both heard a knock on the wall outside the room followed by the aforementioned man's voice, "Hey, are you guys okay? We uh need to get going soon."

Rhodey nodded an answer, then after standing up, Pepper allowed him to help her do the same. She then let go of his hand, and stepped out into the hallway ahead of him, "I'm going to go wash my face. I'll meet you downstairs in a minute."

She saw the two men exchange a look, but she didn't stop, not even when she heard Happy voice the question she knew they were all thinking, "Are you going to be okay?"

Pepper shook her head, but kept walking, "My husband is going to be dead in less than two hours. You tell me."

It was sometime later when a guard escorted them into a holding area in the prison where several members of the press were already waiting. All eyes immediately fell onto them as they entered the room, and Rhodey swears he saw Happy get a few inches taller as he sent the reporters dirty looks to keep back from Pepper. Fortunately none of the hungry vultures got a chance to do more than circle around the new arrivals since a representative of the Department of Justice entered the room almost immediately after they arrived.

The representative was an older, dour faced woman who asked them to all be seated in the chairs provided so that she could review the protocols for the event they would be witnessing shortly. However before she began going through the protocols, she spoke briefly about what sort of day Tony had been having and who his final visitor was. Although the representative never said her name aloud, had in fact only referred to her as "the inmate's wife", all eyes turned towards Pepper.

Pepper for her part didn't seem to be completely unaware of their attention. She stared straight ahead into the space right in front of her Rhodey, who just kept holding her hand tightly, was very aware of was transpiring sent glares into the direction of each of the reporters, and Happy was very ready to jump into action if needed.

The representative moved onto the protocols, explaining what they would be seeing and what few things were expected of them as witnesses. The very last thing she said is the one part Pepper did hear, and it is what she would respond to.

"Last of all but still important, for those of you who have been a witness before this is a reminder, and for those of you who have not, what I am about to say may be seen as a most solemn warning. When the curtains have been drawn back, and you are able to see inside of the execution chamber, you are not to make an attempt speak to anyone who is present inside the chamber."

Pepper gasped, "You mean I'm not even allowed to tell… to tell my husband that I love him for… for one last last time?"

The DOJ woman shook her head, "No, ma;am, I'm sorry but no communication is permitted between the condemned and-"

"Don't call him that!"

The other woman frowned at the outburst but didn't otherwise reprimand Pepper. Instead she continued with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but as I was saying no communication is permitted between the inmate, or anyone present in the witness rooms. I must warn you that guards have been instructed to remove anyone who violates this policy. I do mean anyone, ma'am. Do not speak to or try to communicate with him if you wish to remain in the room." She waited to see if there would be any response from Pepper, and when it was clear there would be none, she returned to addressing the room in general, "Now, we have a few minutes for questions if anyone has anything they need to ask?"

"I do," said one of the reporters said putting up his hand.

"Go ahead."

But the three people who knew Tony the best didn't hear the question or response because Pepper had once more gotten lost in her sea of pain and the two men with her were struggling to keep her afloat while trying to keep themselves from their own grief from overwhelming them.

After the representative called an end to the briefing, they were all asked to line up so that they could be checked one final time by the guards with a metal detector. Once that was done, a guard escorted them from the room, and down a short hallway before they were led inside a small room. In the room was two rows of with six chairs each set before a long window that was covered with a curtain from the inside. The second row had been elevated so that those who were seated in the back would be able to view the proceedings in the other room over the heads of those seated in front..

Rhodey didn't know if it was by design or accident that they entered the room first, but he was glad because they claimed the seats directly in front of the window. As he took one of the chairs beside Pepper, he caught more than one annoyed looked being shot their way. He stared right back at them, not caring what they thought or wanted, since they are the people who love Tony and they are the people whose faces should be the last thing he saw when he closed his eyes would close.

Pepper was okay for the moment, so he allowed his own thoughts to drift. They turned to the fact that how, in just a few short minutes from now, he would be watching as they killed the man he considered to be more than just his best friend of thirty-three years.

True, there had been countless times since they met that Tony had nearly driven him crazy. He would admit that sometimes he had been driven crazy almost to the point of wanting to end their friendship, but something held him back so he never had. He had never really left Tony behind because although he wanted to strangle the man sometimes, he also knew that just like with his sisters Tony was his family, forever.

"How much time do we have left before… you know?" a nervous voice from behind them quietly asked, breaking into his thoughts.

"About fifteen minutes," someone answered, probably a guard.

After he got a quick look at Pepper to see if she had heard the exchange, and thankfully she hadn't, Rhodey shared a quick glance with Happy before turning around to look at the person who had asked the question. It wasn't one of the reporters as he had expected. Instead it was one of the citizen witnesses who had volunteered to witness the execution. He kept looking at the man until their eyes met, and the man had enough decency to look apologetic before breaking eye contact with Rhodey.

He only turned back around when he heard Pepper gasp, and had been about to ask her what was wrong when he saw it. A group of silhouettes move against the curtain. There was a deep, aching pain in his chest when he realized what he was seeing. Although the movement of the silhouettes had only lasted but half a second, Pepper gave a strangled cry, and she began crying as she brokenly murmuring Tony's name.

Rhodey immediately wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her closer to him, gently telling her, "Don't look over there anymore, okay?" He encouraging her to lay her head down onto his shoulder, and said, "Don't look."

"I can't… I can't believe that this is happening," she whispered, "I can't believe that we're going to lose him this way. How… how can the President just let him die like this?"

The despair and hopelessness in her voice drilled such a stab of pain into him that Rhodey found himself wanting to break the promise of silence he had given to Rogers, He'd given his word that he wouldn't tell her about what the Avengers were doing right now in an attempt to save Tony.

Only you can't say anything, and you know it, he thought bitterly to himself. You know that you can't give her any hope that may turn out to be false. This was already shattering her into a million pieces as it was and if the Avengers didn't come through after he told her… he didn't even want to think about the agony she would be in then.

With her head still laying against his shoulder, Pepper swiped at a tear, and said in an angry voice, "You know I don't understand why Steve backed out so suddenly! He's the leader of the Avengers and if… if an Avenger is about to die, how could he not be here? How can he just abandon Tony like this?"

He decided that it was best if he didn't respond to that, so Rhodey kept silent, and prayed that the Avengers were not going to fail in whatever they were doing at this moment. The more Pepper cried the more difficult it was for him to keep his silence, and the fact his eyes kept drifting over towards the window where they had seen the silhouettes wasn't helping either, It didn't take a genius to know that Tony was probably strapped down to the gurney and having IV lines inserted into his arms.

Rhodey's eye caught the movement of Happy checking his watch, and the security man shook his head when he looked up.

It wouldn't be long now.

Tony was almost out of time.