Chapter 32! I'm sorry that this is shorter than the previous one, but there's one important point in this chapter that I needed to write. Maybe you can find it?

Thank you for all the ideas, some of them are very tempting! I've been thinking about it and maybe really someone from the past will return soon, who knows? And what will happen with Bucky when they find him? Also a question I've been asking myself lately. I would love to know what you think of this chapter too! I don't know if I can write the next one before the end of the week, I've got a very very important exam soon and I've got to learn for that, I'm sorry.

I don't own the characters or places!


In the evening, Tony was standing on the balcony of his house and looked at the ocean. The evening at the beach with the others had been fun and to his surprise, no one had even looked at the scar on his chest. So Steve had been right, his friends didn't care.

Pepper and Happy returned very late, there had been many things to deal with at Stark Industries. Steve had already prepared dinner, which had been very good (as always). Then Pepper and Natasha began to talk about clothes and such things, Nat had asked Pep to go shopping with her in New York. Tony didn't really understand why since Natasha never cared about something like that, but he suspected that it had something to do with Bruce and how close they were lately. Bruce had excused himself after dinner, when Tony left the kitchen he'd seen him on the couch with a book in his hands. And he didn't know what Steve, Clint and Thor were doing. Probably watching an action movie or something like that.

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the last sunbeams on his face. It would get colder soon and New York wasn't as beautiful as Malibu. And then they would have to face Hydra again and Tony just knew that something would go wrong… Ever since they discovered the base in Alaska without the technology, there was this strange feeling in his stomach. He couldn't just shrug it off, it always returned. Maybe he should talk to the others about it once they were back at the Tower.

And he would have to ask JARVIS if there were news of Bucky soon, he doubted that it would take him very long to get into Hydra's files. And Sam couldn't stay in that small town in Canada forever… Maybe it was time to build the new Avengers facility, the Compound. That would be a good idea. The space in the Tower was limited, especially since SHIELD was there too. A place just for the Avengers sounded tempting…

"JARVIS, make sure to get me the names of a few companies who can start building the facility north of New York soon." He muttered, then he couldn't forget that. "And please someone who's reliable."

"Yes, Sir. I will send you the data as soon as possible." JARVIS announced and Tony nodded slowly, even though no one was there to see it.

He couldn't tell how long he'd been standing there when the door opened. He recognized Pepper's steps immediately. "Did you solve the problem with the clothes?" He asked without looking at her.

"Yes, we'll go shopping next week. I think this is about Bruce, she wants to look beautiful for him. Which is stupid because she's always looking good." He knew that Pepper rolled her eyes right now.

"People do crazy things when they're in love." He replied simply.

"They do." Pepper agreed. "Natasha told me that they were swimming this afternoon. And that you and Steve joined them." She sounded surprised.

"Yeah, Steve convinced me to come." Slowly, he turned his head to look at her. She had a thoughtful expression on her face, as if she was trying to figure something out.

"I would have never expected you to do something like that." She admitted carefully.

He chuckled. "Me neither. But you know Steve. He can be very convincing when he wants. And of course he said 'no one cares about your scar' and stuff like that. And I needed a distraction, so…" He shrugged. "It was nice."

Pepper smiled. "I'm glad that you had fun. You really needed it."

He nodded. "Sometimes even I have to stop worrying about everything, right?" He said it lightly.

Pepper's smile faded and now she looked concerned. "You're not alright." She whispered and he sighed. He'd known immediately that he couldn't hide this from her.

"I talked to Steve about last evening." He admitted and continued before Pepper could interrupt him. "He said the same as you did, that I'm a good person and that I'm helping others. And that's everything that counts." He smiled slightly. "And of course we discussed Bucky again, seems like Sam's lost the trace. But maybe there'll be a way to get it back, JARVIS is on it."

"That doesn't sound bad. So what's bothering you?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. It's just a feeling, you know? That something bad is going to happen. I can do whatever I want, it won't leave me…" He shrugged. "Probably I'm overreacting."

She touched his arm carefully. "When you've got doubts about something, you should tell the others. In all those years, I've learned that your feelings rarely betray you when it's about something like that." She was smiling reassuringly now. "It's about the thing in Alaska, right? When you won't be able to use all your inventions."

He nodded. "You know me so well."

"I know that something like this won't leave your mind. You hate feeling useless."

"I do." He agreed. "We really need to look at that one closely before we make a move."

She nodded. "It'll be alright, I know it."

He forced a smile on his lips. "Yeah, probably you're right." Why did he have the feeling that it would end in disaster?

We wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." Pepper answered immediately. They stood there like that for some time, neither wanting to move. However, he noticed that Pepper started to shiver.

"We should get inside." He muttered.

"It's late already. And we'll leave early tomorrow." She agreed. "And I could really use some sleep. After all, I couldn't just go to sleep again after breakfast."

Slowly, he looked up again. "Then let's go."


When they were in bed, Tony looked at Pepper questioningly. "About this morning…" He began hesitantly, but she cut him off.

"It was nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing." He argued.

"I've been stupid. You know that something like this doesn't bother me. It's just… Everything's been so difficult lately and I'm stressed ever since. There's this fear of losing you, like really losing you forever and it's always on my mind, especially now when I just got you back. And soon you'll leave again with the Avengers and you'll risk your lives. And the last time everything went wrong, when you showed up here." She was talking fast now, trying to get the words out before. "Do you even know how bad you all have been looking? You've been covered in blood and bruises and they're still there, fading slowly. And Natasha nearly died and it could have also been you…"

It looked like she wanted to say even more, but Tony silenced her with a kiss. "It's alright, Pepper." He whispered. "I get it." He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Something like that won't happen again, next time we'll be more careful, I promise."

"Don't promise me something you can't keep." She muttered.

He sighed. "Fine. But it won't happen again, I'm sure of that."

She was silent for some time. "Just be careful." She whispered finally.

He kissed her again. "I promise."


Pepper and Happy decided to fly to New York with the Avengers in their jet instead of using the private Stark Industries plane. Somehow, it made Tony happy to know that Pepper preferred to stay with him instead of using the comfortable plane. Now they were all sitting in the jet and Clint was the one navigating. Thor was just telling a story about an adventure of him and Loki about one hundred years ago (when Loki wasn't evil) and the others were laughing when Tony's phone vibrated. He turned to Steve who was sitting next to him. "JARVIS sent me the data of Hydra. I'll have a look at it." He stood up and walked away from the others, ignoring the questioning looks of Pepper and the others. He knew that Steve didn't want everyone to know about this. Well, nearly everyone in this jet already knew about it, except for Clint, Bruce, Thor and Happy.

He skipped through the files until he found something interesting. "JARVIS, when was this updated?" He muttered thoughtfully and put in his earphones so that the others wouldn't hear JARVIS' voice.

"About twenty minutes ago, Sir. I was able to decode it the moment they uploaded it." JARVIS informed him.

"I'll tell Steve." He muttered and gestured the other man to come closer. Steve, who's already been watching Tony, stood up immediately. He ignored the questions of the others too.

"Here, look at this." Tony whispered and handed Steve his phone. He'd skipped most of the file and now there were just the most important key words on the screen.

"They found the hotel." Steve muttered, excitement in his voice.

Tony nodded. "And from what JARVIS found out, Hydra will be there in about six hours."

"Can we get there faster?" Steve asked hopefully. "You have the tracer, don't you?"

Tony nodded. "Of course, wouldn't forget something like that, would I?" He smiled slightly but turned serious again after that. "It'd take too long for the jet. However, I can be there faster." He added when Steve's expression turned from excited to disappointed.

"You can?"

Tony nodded. "I've added a few extras to the suit lately."

"I thought you were working on a new one?" Steve asked and raised his eyebrows. He made a vague gesture with his hand towards Tony's chest. "You know, the one in the reactor you'll carry on your chest again?"

"That one's also nearly finished. But it's in New York." He grinned. "In the past days, when I repaired my suit, I added a few things. Thought it could be useful."

"When did you find the time for that?" Steve shook his head in disbelief.

"Right after I fixed your gauntlets." Tony replied immediately. "But let's talk about that later, if you want Sam to follow them, I've got to leave now." He glanced at the others. "What will you tell them?"

Steve sighed. "Probably I should tell them the truth." He admitted and ran a hand through his hair (a gesture he'd copied from Tony).

"Good idea. They'll understand it. I'll say hello to Sam from you." Tony muttered and clapped his hands. In the corner, the Iron Man suit began to move towards him. Unfortunately, it had also ripped the others out of their conversation.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked and looked at them questioningly. "You've been standing there in the corner and talking and now it looks like you want to leave?"

Pepper's concerned face bothered Tony, but he just shrugged and smiled lightly. "Emergency, I've got to get going. Steve can explain it to you. I'll meet you at the Tower. This evening."

"This evening?" Now Pepper stood up slowly. "But Tony…" She began and he nodded.

"Yeah, I know. It's not even eight in the morning and I'll be gone the whole day. As I said, Steve will explain it. Now I really need to leave." The urgency in his voice made her fall silent. She just watched as he stepped into his suit. "See you later." He turned around and jumped out of the jet.

When Tony left, Pepper turned to Steve and raised her eyebrows. "What was that about? Where is he going?" Steve could see the concern in her eyes and took a step towards her.

"It's alright, Pepper. He'll be back soon." He looked at the others who were all watching them silently. Even Clint hat turned on the autopilot and stood there with crossed arms. "There's something I've got to tell you." He sighed and tried to smile. "Maybe we should all sit down again. This is going to take some time."