Great news all around:
- I have the rest of the fic (mostly) plotted out. :D (after throwing out 5k of the original chapter 23... well, okay, I'm hoping to reuse some, but jfc that sucked)
- I have started on the next chapter already as well, yay!
- I am freaking excited for what's to come.
- Annaelle and betheflame are amazing betas.
- You readers are PHENOMENAL in your support, holy cow, I don't know how I can ever thank you enough, honestly.
- I started new meds and they're helping my hand pain a lot, so that's something I am feeling optimistic about long-term. :)
- This chapter is my birthday gift to myself (Jan 15 I'll be 30! Yikes.) because I just love Pepper so much and I've been hankering to show their amazing platonic-turned-romantic-turned-platonic relationship for ages now. So here, have some hopefully wonderful Pepper & Toni. (Anyone wanna guess who Pep's soulmate is?)

With love,
Juuls

July 9th, 2011. 2:35pm. Stark Residence. Malibu, California, USA.

"—can you hear me? Toni?"

"Bucky?" Toni mumbled groggily, stirring from a deep and dreamless sleep and stretching out, a smile playing at her lips.

"It's just me, Toni," Pepper murmured.

"Pepper," Toni managed after a moment, slowly drifting back into sleep. A moment passed, filled with a blissful nothingness, before the realization settled upon her.

"Pepper!" she exclaimed, shooting straight up in bed. Pain lanced across her ribs but she was too focused on the woman standing over her to pay it much thought.

The woman in question took a step back as Toni turned towards her, wide eyes taking in everything about her.

Fuck, but it was so good to see Pepper. It really was.

The svelte woman was looking as amazing as ever, well-put together in a turquoise pant suit with her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, and a calm expression on her face. Her eyes were piercing Toni's, however, despite the gloom surrounding them.

Seeing her here in front of her, the woman who had been her rock for years, but who had been a lifetime and more away from her for the last two weeks, brought everything into sharp, clear, brutal focus, and Toni both felt in more control than ever… and less.

Toni knew what she needed, though, and took it—knowing that Pepper would never deny her this, despite the fact they were no longer lovers.

Pepper stepped into her arms as she opened them, letting Toni pull her halfway down onto her lap and halfway onto the bed, arms holding Toni tight against her chest. One hand came up and buried itself in Toni's hair as if by instinct, but Pepper left it there, no hesitation at all, as if everything were right in the world, as if everything were right between them.

It was. Everything was so right between them. The love they'd shared had been fierce and brilliant, and neither of them regretted it, but it couldn't have lasted forever, even if Pepper's mark hadn't shown up on that fateful day, so many weeks ago.

Even if Toni's mark hadn't shown up, soon after that.

Toni had worried so much that they wouldn't be able to stand the other anymore, that there would be jealousy and resentment and more… but she had worried for nothing. She hadn't given herself enough credit, which was something she seemed to do a lot in social circumstances. The real issue, however, was that she hadn't given Pepper enough credit, either. And that had been so, so very dumb of Toni. Because Pepper was amazing, Pepper was everything, and Pepper loved with all her heart, never letting go unless the other wished, and always treating the other with the exact level of love and kindness and so much more that the person in question deserved.

And apparently Toni was one of the lucky ones; the ones who got Pepper's whole heart, without reservation.

Sure, now there was a soulmate to factor in, but Toni had promised to be good and not pry—and for once she'd done just that. Because she loved and respected Pepper more than pretty much anyone else, on par with Rhodey, and when she was asked by someone she loved to be careful with their heart… there was no goddamn way she was going to let anyone hurt them—and that included herself.

Still, though, Toni had feared that she wouldn't be able to do the little things that had mattered to her, the things that they'd had even before they'd fallen in and out of love together.

But here Pepper was, giving her the best hug she'd had in just… so long. And she knew a lot of that had to do with not seeing her for so long, but it was also just so good to know that Pepper wouldn't change their hugs for the world. That she'd give her the same hug whether they were together or not.

It was beautiful.

She was beautiful.

Toni took a deep breath of Pepper's light lilac scent as she buried her face a little deeper into the warm skin at the base of Pepper's throat, letting the warm skin and expensive cloth soothe her cold, touch-starved self.

Pepper was here.

Everything was going to be okay.

"Toni?" Pepper queried softly after a contented few minutes of running her hand through Toni's messy hair, the other rubbing soothingly over the bare skin below her bra band.

Toni didn't answer. She didn't even know where to begin, and wanted to stay like this forever. Or, well, at least a few minutes more—because Toni knew there were things to be done. Just… not yet.

"A little longer," Toni finally murmured, clutching Pepper a little tighter to her.

"Okay," Pepper said, falling silent again as she just… held Toni.

She'd needed this so badly the last few weeks. She had needed a warm hand, a soft smile, time to think, an understanding ear, unconditional love, and… just… a hug. A good hug.

Toni never wanted to admit it—and really never did—but she needed this. Things like this.

Finally, Pepper decided to pull back, though just enough to look Toni in the eye. Which Toni did, lifting her chin and letting Pepper take in the gleam of tears on the verge of spilling over. The redhead's gaze softened and she pressed a kiss against Toni's forehead before pulling back a little further to sit fully on the edge of the bed, rather than partially on Toni's lap like she had been doing.

"Obviously something is going on, something serious," she said gently, compassion in her voice. "Because I have not even once seen you like this before, Toni." She tilted her head to the side and brushed a thumb across Toni's cheek before dropping it into her lap to join her other hand. Pepper'stone took on a hint of teasing, mixed with the worry, however, when she continued. "The only time that I get calls like that from JARVIS are when you've done something dumb and/or injured yourself, but JARVIS assured me you were alright and that I didn't have to drop everything to come right away—which I couldn't because I'm trying to get your Tower finished, but I'm here now, even if I worried for you due to the secrecy of it all."

"My apologies, Ms. Potts. But in this case… I believed discretion was the better of valor, as it were," JARVIS interrupted.

Pepper waved him off. "It's alright, JARVIS. You said it could wait." She turned her gaze back to Toni. "Not that I'm not happy to see you either, Toni, but what is it? I just saw you yesterday. Or, rather, I saw you hunched over your workbench in such a way that it immediately made my own back start hurting in sympathy. But I'm pretty sure you didn't notice me. Your signatures need redone, as it is, considering you signed them across the middle of the page, right through the text, without looking. Again."

Toni winced just a little but gave Pepper a cheeky grin anyway. "Uh, sorry?" Toni scrubbed a hand through her hair, despite knowing that her fingers would get caught in the knots and tangles of her curls.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Forgiven. I got legal to accept it anyway. Apparently there's… precedent for this sort of thing. Common with more than just my own genius inventor, you see," she teased.

"Pepper," Toni groaned, though her lips spread into a smile. "It's so good to see you, to hear your voice."

At that, Pepper narrowed her eyes. "Okay. So, that sentence isn't suspicious at all." She lifted a finger and pointed directly at her chest. "Spill."

And that's when she saw the arc reactor.

Her cracked, obviously-hit-by-a-gun, definitely damaged arc reactor.

"Ummmm, I can explain that," Toni said quickly. Her hand lifted to cover the reactor, but she dropped it at the last moment, only to twist in the blankets at her side. She didn't need to hide from Pepper. She never would.

"Just… gimme a sec," Toni nearly pleaded, hoping to halt Pepper's questioning for at least another minute while she realigned herself. "Just… hang on. There's a lot to tell, and I need to get it right."

"Sure," Pepper capitulated, voice carefully composed.

Toni closed her eyes and focused on breathing. She took a long moment to breathe deep; in, out, in, out, over and over again, focusing on the feeling of the air in her lungs as it entered, as it held, as it left. It wasn't something she did often, but every now and then she just needed to… breathe. To take a step back, focus on nothing but the air in her lungs, and just breathe.

It worked like a charm nearly every time—this time was no different. She felt calmer, more centered, more able to take on what had happened and what she needed to share with Pepper, and Rhodey again when he managed to get here.

She opened her eyes to find Pepper staring at her with slight concern. Pepper knew her better than nearly anyone, and she knew that Toni didn't just go silent and breathe like that for no good reason. Toni was spitfire and energy, mania and depression, anxiety and self-soothing mechanisms. Toni was not silence and deep breaths.

Except for when it really, really mattered.

"Now I'm really concerned," Pepper said, but her voice was at least a little wry. She was obviously willing to wait Toni out—it wasn't like she didn't have a lot of practice at that with Toni.

Toni quirked one side of her lips up in a wry smile of her own in response, but pushed herself back and up against the headboard of her bed, drawing the covers up and over her chest.

She was cold. So cold—and she didn't know why.

Toni shivered a little, and asked, "Where's Platypus?" before anything else. She didn't really want to repeat this more than she had to, but she had a feeling that she was very much not going to get that wish.

Sigh. Oh well.

Pepper kicked her stilettos off, letting them clatter onto the hardwood floor just past the rug that lay beneath the bed. "He's still radio silent. Until tomorrow at the earliest. As you know." She lifted an elegant brow. "But I have a feeling you've had a lot on your mind."

"Ugh, you don't know the half of it," Toni groaned. "J, what's the date?"

"It is July 9th, Miss. 3:01PM," came the easy reply.

"Year?" she queried immediately, despite knowing exactly what the answer was—it seemed she just had to be sure, despite Pepper being right here in front of her.

"2011, Miss."

Toni's shoulders slumped in both relief and sadness.

"You didn't," Pepper accused, voice blunt but filled with growing awareness—and awe.

"I so did," Toni replied. "Right back to 1944."

"Holy shit," Pepper exclaimed, in a rare display of not caring one bit about poise and decorum. "I want to believe you, but I need way more than all this weirdness you've been giving me. So spill. Now."

And Toni did. She told her everything.

Everything.

"There is no way I would believe your adventure story if you didn't have JARVIS backing you up, Toni," Pepper finally said, breaking the silence she'd fallen into while listening to Toni flail—well, it felt like that, but she'd actually been pretty calm, to tell the truth—her way through her retelling.

Toni actually broke out the fake pout. "You wound me, Potts."

"No offense, JARVIS, but I wouldn't believe even you if I hadn't seen her first soulmark for myself a few weeks ago," the redhead continued.

"No offense taken, Ms. Potts," JARVIS added.

Pepper smiled at that, then reached down gently, slowly enough that Toni could avoid the touch if she so wished, but didn't hesitate to wrap her long, elegant fingers around Toni's slim ankle.

It was considered improper even these days for anyone but family to touch another's soulmark, but it was a testament to the deep bond she and Pepper shared that she hadn't flinched away from the touch. Why would she? No matter their labels, no matter if they were together or friends or any of those other things, she and Pepper knew exactly what the other meant to them, just the same as with she and Rhodey.

"You think this is really him?" Pepper murmured, her thumb sweeping over the black lettering.

"I—" Toni stopped as quickly as she began, closing her mouth with a snap and going over every last thing that had crossed her mind since first seeing the mark in a flash. Going over everything she knew about soulmate theory, too, and finding nothing that matched. Not that she knew of, at least.

"I worry it will be his body I find, nothing more," she admitted finally, eyes flicking to Pepper's before flicking back away again. "That the mark is leading me there partly as a result of having a previous, unconfirmed bond…"

"That's not how it works, Toni," Pepper interrupted firmly.

"But—"

"Toni," Pepper quelled her tongue with a single word and that look, "you know that makes no sense, with everything we know about bonds. Your date is in the future, and you know that if someone dies before the rendezvous date that the mark will simply fade away because it's not confirmed, let alone begun. Even after a rendezvous, if the soulmate dies, if it's an unconfirmed bond, despite having started, it will fade. Only confirmed bonds remain once a mate is dead. And yours is not. If he's dead, you would have nothing. But Toni, you… you have something. And that's hope, Toni. That's hope right there in writing."

"I don't…" Toni worried at her lip with her teeth, looking down at the spot where Pepper's fingers were still stroking the skin over her soulmark.

"I know this is one of the branches of science you reject," Pepper said frankly. "I know that. But it's still science, still been proven empirically—I know not in all aspects, and much of it is still considered a soft science; I've heard you bitch about it enough. But you don't have to believe it. Just… try to keep it in mind, Toni," Pepper said with compassion and understanding.

"Okay," Toni agreed. She'd try. She would, but for now she would be stuck with horrifying daydreams and nightmares filled with death and decay and war.

Toni blinked, trying to get herself out of the twisting path her anxiety carved for her..

Always a tough prospect these days, but eh. Who said you couldn't come out of three months of torture without some fucked-upness?

Well, other than every single person who hated Antonia Stark, but whatever.

Toni leaned back, stretching like a cat, and then asked, "Did you still just meet your soulmate in whatever weird version of my life I've found myself in?" Toni asked Pepper teasingly, a hint of self-deprecation bleeding into her tone of voice and tactfully ignored.

"Yeah," Pepper replied easily, a smile spreading over her lips and shining in her eyes. "She's great. She…" Pepper paused and then continued, a little slower and more seriously. "I met her before, actually. It wasn't the right time then, apparently, which at least isn't too unusual in this day and age, so we don't feel too weird about it. Or, at least I don't. She's… hard to read sometimes. But it's good. It's really good. And… I think you'd like her. The person she is when she's with me, not others."

"I'm sure I will," Toni agreed, a true smile gracing her lips as she looked at her ex-girlfriend, flushed and happy with what could very well be love. "I'm so happy for you, though, Pep. Really. You deserve it, and in some ways it's good you knew each other before?"

"Thanks, Toni. And sure, maybe? There's a lot to figure out, but it's a little hard sometimes, though. She is. To understand, that is. I mean, I don't know everything about her, but… She had a soulmate a long… in her childhood. She died, how I'm not sure, but it was enough to, I don't know, rewire her priorities, I suppose?"

Toni's lips twisted into a frown and she made a noise of sympathy.

Pepper returned the frown with a bittersweet smile of her own before continuing, "We've been taking it slow, easy, still living apart because of our jobs. But we like it that way, and things are going well. I, well—I was going to introduce her to you next time I saw you in New York with Jim, but I have a feeling that you're planning to be in New York a lot sooner than we scheduled that get-together for," she finally concluded with a narrowing of eyes.

"…I may have already had JARVIS start fast-tracking getting a few of the floors complete." Toni laughed at being called out, mood suddenly shifting around them. She was happy that Pepper knew her so well, but shameless despite that fact.

"Uh-huh."

"…and supplies ordered."

Expectant silence.

"…and extra clothes and food and everything a growing girl needs?" She deliberately didn't cop to the fact that she'd stress-ordered a whole bunch of clothes for two one 1940s man.

"Toni."

"You make my name sound so dirty and not even in the fun way, Pepper Pot."

She completely ignored Toni. "When did you even have time to do this?"

"I'm pretty sure I ordered it all in my sleep last night, honestly," Toni said with a wince, before flashing a grin. "But! It's okay!" She held up her hands. "Everything's fine. I'm sure J would've told me if I'd… I dunno, decided to paint the walls with glitter, right buddy?"

"I would never let you do such a thing to Ms. Potts' Tower, Miss," he responded immediately.

The traitor.

Toni still grinned at Pepper. "See? All good."

Pepper rolled her eyes but settled back a little more easily on the bed, eyeing Toni with inquisitive, shrewd, and competent eyes. "It would make for a better place to bring a man from Brooklyn than sunny Malibu, I suppose," she conceded with a nod, though she continued to stare Toni down.

Toni smiled—despite the thought that she might be bringing back a body rather than somebody—covering her flash of appreciation with practiced ease. She then distracted herself from the thought of finding Steve's body—she couldn't think of Bucky that way yet, despite the fact that she knew she wouldn't leave his body unrecovered in the Alps—by mulling over another issue that wouldn't leave her mind alone, especially now that Toni and JARVIS had proven to Pepper that she'd been there and back again to 1944 Europe.

Was this… some kind of multiverse? Did this Pepper have different memories from her own Pepper? Were there two different Peppers now? Was… shit, did she even know this Pepper?

She closed her eyes, and took another few deep breaths again, not caring that Pepper was seeing her vulnerability. Especially since Pep was one of only two people who ever did.

A voice entered her subconscious. If—when—Steve comes back with me, that will have to change.

Well, if that just didn't steal breath that she didn't have.

Unfortunately, for Toni to even have a chance at quelling the anxiety and mild panic that was honestly doing no favors to her heart, she had to deal with her own past. What was different, what was the same… so much. But she had to know. She had to know what was behind her so that she could better help the world in the future, and even—especially—the present.

Futurism required one to know where you came from, and where the human race has come from. To know the past so you may realize where you and the changes you wish to make will fit into the narrative of history.

"I'm worried you're not the same Pepper," she admitted softly, finally, in a whisper, eyes still closed.

"Oh Toni," Pepper sighed just as softly, and once more, Toni found herself being held by Pepper. By the woman who was practically her platonic soulmate, just without marks to show for it.

But they didn't need the marks to prove their love.

Toni was struck suddenly by just how glad she was to be home. To be here, in Pepper's arms. To be in her home, in the present, in her bed, with her workshop and JARVIS and her bots, and just… everything. She couldn't help but to feel guilt at that, too, however. Because what she'd left behind had been what she wanted too. She felt guilty for feeling glad that she was less anxious than she'd been in weeks—calmer than she'd been in days.

Still though. She missed the men—her men, all of them—deeply. Telling Pepper everything had left her feeling open and raw and vulnerable, and she still couldn't quite believe that she wouldn't have that ever again. That she'd been dragged from them unwillingly, at the whim of a mad god and goddess, and that she hadn't been there to save them from death—maybe, maybe one was alive, she kept telling herself, but even then it was hard to believe.

Here she was, safe and sound and warm despite the chill coating her heart, whereas the men had to fight for weeks without her, in World War II of all the hellish times and places in history.

She'd been given comfort and home.

They had been given ice and death.

But… that guilt didn't rid her of the calm she was working towards, and she felt like just maybe she could be the competent Toni Stark she was supposed to be. Not the idiot tripping over her own feet in the woods and war. No one said she couldn't feel both calm and guilty at once, but she still resolved to hold onto the calm as best she could, and set aside the guilt while still acknowledging it. To not let it consume her and keep her from all other things.

To not take any of this for granted, and be glad for what she has.

She'd had to learn that lesson once in Afghanistan, from Yinsen—she didn't want to have to learn it again, or to let Yinsen's memory down.

"Did we still meet in 2000?" Pepper asked, suddenly interrupting Toni's all too consuming thoughts.

"What?" Toni blinked.

"Did we, or did we not, meet in 2000?" Pepper repeated again, patiently.

"Yeah, we did," Toni mumbled, but her spirits were lifting as Pepper took charge. Thank god.

"January or February?" Pepper continued.

"January. You were going over the taxes and found, shall we say… discrepancies. Which you then brought directly to me. Walked right in and tossed a huge box on my desk—I still have no idea how you carried that thing without falling, by the way." Toni's lips curled up in a smile at the fond memory.

"See? There. That's the same," Pepper soothed with a gentle smile.

"What about everything else?" Toni couldn't help but to ask.

She needed to know.

Pepper seemed to understand. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to ask questions, you'll answer them, and we'll see how they compare. Okay?"

Toni nodded.

"Good," Pepper said with a smile, reaching out to lace the fingers of her right hand with Toni's left. "When did you first try to ask me out?"

Toni groaned. "Oh god, that was in 2006 and I was such an idiot, please don't remind me."

Pepper let a smirk pull at her lips. "You were, but at least you took no for an answer the first time."

"I was so sure you were super straight," Tony confessed.

"For a genius, you were so wrong that it's almost funny," Pepper laughed.

"Yep, totally wrong. But it was 2006, right?" Toni asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, another," Toni demanded with palpable relief.

"Hm. Well, how about birth dates, did you check those?" Pepper queried with a tilt of her head.

Toni's eyes widened. "I didn't. Huh. I was born in 1975 in my time…"

"1970 here, Miss," JARVIS replied immediately to the unspoken question. "I cannot see anything that affects, however I will keep looking."

Toni blinked. That was… odd. But manageable? Maybe? "Okay… that is really weird. I don't even know what to say to that, honestly."

Pepper's own eyes were wide, but she blinked the surprise away and put on her CEO expression once more. "We'll figure it out. Even if just so we don't mess up in some press announcement. But it wouldn't be the first mystery surrounding you, now would it… Iron Man?"

Toni narrowed her eyes at the woman and was about to pounce, hands poised to tickle, when JARVIS interrupted once again:

"Miss, Agent Coulson is at the gate, and he insists on speaking with you."

"Seriously?" Tony groaned. "What now?" she asked, only semi-seriously. She could hazard a pretty good guess at what Coulson was here for.

Somehow they always caught wind of all the hinky shit going down.

Flicking her fingers at the nearest camera, Toni called up the speaker for the gate and drawled, "Agent Agent, what can I do for you on this pleasant summer evening?"

It was afternoon. Neither of them mentioned it.

"You could pick up your phone once in a while, Dr. Stark," he said in lieu of answering. Or, well, she supposed that was an answer to her question. What better way to get her attention than to actually come to her—in all likelihood, she would've ignored him anyway, even if she hadn't had JARVIS put the system on mute, and for world-ending emergencies only.

Toni sighed softly and pinched the bridge of her nose. She caught Pepper raising an eyebrow at her and inclining her head towards the front of the house, as if to ask her why she was being so rude.

One of her many foibles.

"Come on in, whatever. Make yourself and whichever cronies I'm sure you have with you at home like you did the last time. I'm sure it won't be the last, either." She motioned for JARVIS to open the gates, barely concealing a wince and a groan as her ribs protested the action.

Fuck she was getting too old for this shit, and she wasn't even goddamn forty yet. Barely even thirty-five. Though… was she over forty here?

Goddamn time travel.

"We will have a long friendship yet, Dr. Stark," Coulson said, before thumbing off the receiver on his end.

Toni blinked. "Did he just make a joke? He did, didn't he. God, I need coffee, what the hell."

She heaved herself up before Pepper could say a word, but stopped as a sudden thought crossed her mind. "JARVIS, can you copy the video and audio files for Rhodeybear, as well as whatever the hell I'll be telling Mr. FBI? There's only so many times I can go over this, jesus christ—not that I'll be telling that man any of this shit; he'll have me committed and Fury would be thrilled. We can't have that at all. Rhodey can yell at me later, but at least that means he'll be home safe. Just leave him a message to take a look at them before he flies over so he can at least yell at me with the facts straight." Toni nodded somewhat absently to herself, her mind already honing in on the sweet, heavenly, never-overrated concept of fresh coffee in her belly.

Pepper followed a step behind her after only a few seconds to put her stilettos back on. She didn't even comment on the fact that Toni was in her underwear, which was great, because it was her house, and the click click click of Pepper's ever-present heels made for a soothing sound to her poor, battered soul. But that also gave her an idea…

"Toni, I need to tell—" Pepper began, but cut off on her own when Toni made an abrupt 180 and started heading back towards her bedroom instead, not even noticing that she'd cut Pepper off.

"I need a shower and my bitch clothes, can you keep them occupied for me for a few?" she muttered, before scurrying off to go put on her armor.

They'd had her at a disadvantage once, but not this time.