Chapter 8

To say that Tony woke up without a hangover would be a lie. He was accustomed to alcohol so hangovers were infrequent, only when he drank an insane amount did it get this bad. With a groan the genius realized that he was laying on something soft. He cracked open an eye and noticed that it was his threadbare couch in the lab. He was sure he was on the floor last time he remembered. His eyes were heavy, his head was pounding, and his mouth tasted like sawdust. Scratch that, it tasted like he had swallowed a whole Redwood, bark and all. With a groan he wiggled a bit, not wanting to get up but the harsh lighting in the lab was starting to irritate his eyes.

"Friday lights at 25 percent," Tony ordered. The lights dimmed but Friday said nothing. Belatedly Tony realized that he had muted her the day before. It had been all too much and he had muted her. He felt bad for the dismissal, sure he had muted her for small things when he was working but never when she was trying to tell him something important. "Unmute," Tony said and hoped that Friday would forgive him.

"Miss Potts is waiting in the kitchen," Friday announced rather coldly and Tony just knew. He knew she was holding a grudge. Friday holding a grudge was never a good thing. He slowly rose from the couch and blinked at the now dimly lit lab. In a corner he spotted DUMM-E and U at their charging stations. With a groan Tony finally sat up and made his way out of the lab and upstairs, taking the private elevator.

The upstairs was clean. Too clean, from how Tony remembered it. Gone were the empty bottles of alcohol he had consumed the night prior. Instead he saw Pepper who seemed to be rather chipper behind the kitchen counter. When she spotted Tony however her demeanor changed.

Sit," She ordered and Tony could do nothing but obey. It was bad to piss off Pepper. Very very bad. He'd seen men cry in the boardroom when faced with a pissed off Pepper.

She placed an empty mug in front of Tony once he was seated on a stool. "Friday made coffee," she told the man as he made a grab for the coffeemaker on the counter, trying to delay the inevitable.

Tony was used to drinking black coffee. Caffeine was something that woke him up. Drinking black coffee that was cold however was not one of his favorites and he choked and coughed after the first sip. He had not expected it to be cold. "Friday made coffee three hours ago," Pepper corrected as Tony let out a groan. Yeah, it was official. Friday and Pepper were conspiring against him.

"Pep can we please just get this over with. I know you're mad….." he started to say but was interrupted when Pepper hissed. "I'm not mad, I'm livid Tony! For god's sake do you know how worried I was?! And it wasn't just me either!"

"I was dealing with it!" Tony near shouted as his breathing increased.

"No you weren't Tony. You definitely weren't." Pepper however said. "You were avoiding it like usual!"

"I wasn't!"

"You were!" Paper shouted as she slammed her own mug on the counter. "Damnit Tony, you do this each time it is too much for you to handle and you don't even realize it!" She spoke in a strangled voice. "You got drunk when your parents died, you got drunk when Jarvis and Anna passed away, you were plastered for weeks after Stane betrayed you. Seeing you 'cope' like this….. You should really talk to someone."

"I talk to people!" Tony said defensively.

"Friday doesn't count Tony!" Pepper hissed. "She's just a few years old. You need some professional help! You promised that you wouldn't drink this much again and look at today! You broke it! You freaking broke it. Do you even know how many people are worried about you?!"

"Pep I…." Tony started but Pepper's harsh glare shut him up. "You don't get to say anything until I'm done Tony! You just don't!" She uttered. "Did you really think no one was concerned about you? Your Blackout protocol shut everyone out. Rhodhey and I know you the longest and yeah, Siberia happened, but you shut us out Tony. You ordered Dr. Cho not to tell us anything. The hell were you even doing?! Rhodey and Happy were contemplating storming the tower because they hadn't heard anything from you in weeks! Happy actually agreed to kidnap Rhodey from the VA hospital damnit!"

Tony swallowed as he backed up slightly from the ranting Pepper. She wasn't done laying into him that was for sure. "Let's not forget Laura Barton and her kids. You know, the ones you hid from Ross in the tower. She's been calling me asking if you're alright!" Pepper was gripping the counter right now. "And then there's Vision. Vision who found you in Siberia, Vision who rushed you to the hospital! Vision who could phase through walls to see you but he respected you too much to invade your privacy. I know not interacting with you hurt him a lot. When I come to the tower I just see him floating mindlessly through the halls past all the former SHIELD agents you employed. Even they are worried Tony! You have people who love and support you but you keep pushing everyone away. This isn't how you deal with trauma!"

"I'm sorry Pep, I'm really sorry," Tony actually held back a sob. "For everything. I know I should have reached out but…." A near hysterical heave of breath. "I know you saw that video. I know Friday showed you what partially happened in Siberia. 'Stark men are made of iron' that stupid mantra my dad used to preach. I blamed him for years for killing my mom and it wasn't even his fault. It was Hydra. It was Barnes. But even I can't blame Barnes for this even though I so wanted to," Another hysterical laugh and Pepper is there right by his side guiding him towards a chair and giving him a hug.

"Pepper it's all screwed up," Another hysterical laugh. Tony shook his head ruefully as it all came out. "The man that was brainwashed and tortured for over seventy years by Hydra told me straight up that he killed my parents but the man I believed to be my friend for years, someone I had trusted to watch my six, kept it a secret for two years and would have probably kept it a secret for longer if Zemo hadn't corned him into confessing."

"I just didn't want you to deal with all this Pep," Tony confessed. "I didn't want you to see me so broken."

"Tony, Tony," Pepper said as she gripped the man's shoulders. "I'm your friend. You don't have to go at it alone. Rhodey, Happy and Vision are also here. Rodgers and the others dug their own graves and I'm already dealing with that part."

"Pep, what did you do?!" Tony now questioned as he took in her statement. When Pepper dealt with things she…. Dealt with things, quite efficiently.

"What you hired me for," Pepper deadpanned.

"I'm sorry Pep. You're a great friend and I shouldn't have shut you and the others out like that." Tony said after taking a deep breath. "And Friday, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have muted you when you were clearly trying to tell me something important."

"Apology accepted boss," Friday spoke up sounding a bit more happier.

"Speaking of last night. We need to talk about what Friday was trying to tell you." Pepper stated. "Friday is smart enough to know that you wouldn't want to hear from any of the Rogues unless it was important. I don't particularly like Barnes either but it seems that minors are involved."

"What the hell have those guys gotten themself into now!" Tony muttered as his eyes narrowed.

"That's what I'd like to know as well. Friday relayed my phone number to him. He'll contact us," She stated and then looked at her long-time friend. "But you don't have to speak to him if you don't want to. I could handle it,"

Tony, however, shook his head and said "No, at some point I'm going to have to talk to him. I'm going to have to talk to him and the other Rogues again if and when the Accords council comes through with the pardons."

"WHAT?!" Pepper hissed.

Tony looked a bit sheepish, "Right, uhm…. New development. I didn't tell you about that yet."