The next chapter! I hope you like it, please let me know what you think, that would be awesome! And as always thanks to everyone who read the last chapter and wrote a review!
I have to tell you something important. In the past weeks, I've been thinking about this story a lot. One of the readers here told me that I might be writing too many stories at the same time. Yes, possible. That's why I started finishing old stories. Last week, the number of stories I'm writing at the moment sank. I've finished two. This one will be next. Those are the good news. And now the the bad ones, or at least what will seem like bad ones to many of you. This will end soon. We won't reach 80 chapters.
This is not about cutting it short, as it was called after the last chapter. Not at all. And yes, I'm mentioning this because those words wouldn't leave my mind for days. I've just reached a point where I don't know how to go on anymore. I would have ideas for many more plot lines, that's true. But it just feels right to end this at some point. Maybe I should have already done this even sooner, I don't know. Those of you who are writing stories themselves might know what I mean. This feeling that a story has to end.
I hope you understand this and aren't mad at me. Of course I'll continue writing Only a Job and there will be a new Pepperony story in the near future. Maybe once Only a Job is finished, maybe a little earlier. I don't know yet. I'm planning on finishing I'm Iron Man this week. I hope I'll manage that, but it should be possible.
Thanks for all the support I got over the years, it's really awesome! I would have never imagined that so many people would like this story when I started it back in 2013. So many things have changed ever since. I'm not the young girl who started this anymore. Maybe that's also why it feels so right to finish this. Just please don't be mad at me.
I don't own the characters or places!
"I think I've got it." Tony said when Steve entered the lab.
"The solution to your problem with Extremis?" He asked curiously.
"Not really." Tony grimaced. "But I know when we can approach the Director of SHIELD and his team."
Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Are you feeling up to that?"
"Of course. I'm good." Tony said simply. "We have to leave soon, they just finished whatever they were doing. JARVIS is keeping an eye on their activities, but I don't know how long he'll manage that without being found."
"You want to do this today?" Steve asked incredulously.
"What part of we have to leave soon didn't you understand?" Tony raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly. "Yes, today, Cap. It's our best chance. Or have you changed your mind about talking to him?"
Steve shook his head. "SHIELD needs a leader. And besides, I'd love to know what they're doing."
"Then we'll do it today. Stop frowning at me like that, Steve. You don't have to worry, I'm fine."
Steve looked away as if he'd been caught while doing something forbidden. "You're sure that the Extremis doesn't have more side effects?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Absolutely sure."
"You also look tired." Steve said carefully.
"I'm working on it." He shrugged. "The sooner I get rid of this problem, the better."
"Did you talk to Pepper yet?" Tony had just lifted his cup of coffee, but when Steve asked this question, it nearly fell to the ground.
"She only left yesterday." He said simply and hoped that Steve would drop the subject. But of course he didn't.
"Tony, you said that you would talk to her." Steve sounded worried now.
"I will." He muttered. "But not today. We've got work to do."
"Did you even sleep last night?"
"Alright, stop this!" Tony crossed his arms. "You're acting like my mother. I'm fine and I will talk to Pepper when the time is right. Which isn't now."
"Sir, I have their exact location now." JARVIS' voice sounded through the room.
Tony held out his hands. "You see? Work. Now let's go, otherwise they'll be gone once we arrive there. It will take some time."
Steve sighed, but he left to get his suit and the shield.
"Why doesn't it surprise me that you're the ones who found me?" Phil Coulson asked without surprise in his voice and sighed. Behind him, his team exchanged looks. Apparently, they didn't expect Iron Man and Captain America to show up.
"I'm brilliant." Tony said simply. "You should have known that I'd figure it out someday."
"Honestly, I didn't." Coulson replied. "Even I had problems to get to know what happened to me."
"One of Fury's biggest secrets." Steve nodded. "We don't know the details, but we figured that out."
"What are you doing here?" Coulson asked and glanced at his team. They were looking uncertain if it was a good idea to get closer or stay away. Tony noticed that it were four people. From the information JARVIS had given him, it had been five once. However, one had been a spy.
"We just want to talk." Steve explained. "We didn't tell anyone about your secret, you don't have to worry."
At this, Coulson relaxed. He looked at his team again. "You can come closer if you want. They're just here to talk." He turned to Tony and Steve again. "May I introduce my team to you? These are Melinda May, Skye, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you who our two visitors are?"
Skye chuckled. "God, no. I'd never thought that I would meet Iron Man and Captain America one day!"
Tony smiled slightly. "Seems like dreams come true, after all."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stark!" Fitz said with a wide smile and next to him, Simmons nodded eagerly.
Tony grinned. "I've heard that you're scientists?" Suddenly, they both started talking at the same time and Tony raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"They're really happy to meet you." Steve whispered with a grin.
"Seems so." Tony muttered.
Coulson also smiled at their behaviour and gestured at them to follow him. Soon, they were sitting in a small conference room.
"So what's going on and why are you here?" Coulson asked and they all looked at them seriously.
"I'm sure you're keeping an eye on the events in the world?" Tony asked curiously.
"Of course." Coulson replied. "Though we're quite busy at the time, now that Hydra's back."
"We're also dealing with them." Steve threw in.
"You're doing most of the work there, I have to admit." Phil smiled slightly. "We're nothing compared to the Avengers."
"We've blown up their headquarter in Sokovia." Tony said without hesitation. "It's just a matter of time until we're dealt with all of them. There are only a handful facilities left."
At this, they all stared at him. "You blew up a building?" Somehow, Skye seemed to be fascinated by this and Tony already liked her.
"Was our best chance." He ran a hand through his hair. "We've got the scepter."
"Loki's scepter?" At this, Coulson paled.
"Thor wants to take it to Asgard soon." Steve said with a nod. "It's safer there."
"So why are you really here, when you're dealing with Hydra and there is nothing for me to do?" Coulson narrowed his eyes now. "What do the Avengers want from me?"
"Tell you that your organization needs you." Steve replied calmly. "Hill could need some help with SHIELD."
In short words, they told him what happened at the tower in the past months. When they finished, Coulson sighed. "I already told Fury that it isn't a good idea to make me Director of SHIELD."
"Honestly, I think that there's no one who could do the job better than you." Steve said seriously. "You can't shut yourself out. I see that you're really busy and have a great team here, but SHIELD also needs your attention."
"At least until Fury comes out of hiding again." Tony added. "We can't always play the babysitters for Hill." At this, he grimaced.
"I can talk to her." Phil said after a long silence. "But I don't think that it will help much."
"Just do anything, I don't care what it is. Otherwise, I'll have to throw them out of my tower soon." Tony muttered. "They're causing more trouble than anything else."
"He fired Hill as his assistant." Steve said and Coulson's lips twitched.
"I already knew that this wasn't going to work the moment you first mentioned it, Captain."
Steve chuckled, but he turned serious again soon. "We don't want to take much more of your time. I bet you already have other missions going on."
"We know a few places where we might be needed." May nodded.
"Anything on our way back to New York?" Tony asked with a slight smile.
Skye grinned. "There might be something."
"Just tell us where we can help." Steve added. "You're not alone in all this."
"Neither are you." Coulson replied.
Tony pulled a small device out of his pocket and handed it to Phil Coulson. "Will make it easier to stay in contact. No one can track it."
Coulson smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."
"Call us if you ever need help." Steve said seriously.
"We will."
"You want to leave?" They all stared at Thor.
He nodded. "I have to go back to Asgard. The Scepter isn't safe here. And besides, I got a message that Loki wants to speak to me."
"Your brother wants to talk to you?" Tony asked incredulously. "That can't be good."
Thor shook his head. "Most probably, he's up to something. But he's still my brother. I have to listen to what he has to say."
"Please tell me that you'll make sure that the Scepter is safe first. And out of Loki's reach, if he might manage to escape from his cell." Steve said.
"Of course I will." Thor said simply. "We can't risk anything."
"Why is this even so important to you?" Natasha asked now. "First the Tesseract and now that Scepter. I mean, I get that they're dangerous in the wrong hands. But what's so special about them?"
Thor hesitated. "It's nothing. As you said, they're dangerous." Tony exchanged a look with Steve, Bucky and Sam. Thor was keeping something secret, that was obvious. "You know how to contact me when I'm needed again?"
They all weren't sure about that, but Bruce nodded. "I think I got it."
Thor smiled widely. "That's good. I hope we will see each other again in the near future. If not, be careful, my friends."
Tony handed him the Scepter and Thor raised Mjolnir. Seconds later, he was gone.
"Was it just me or did he want to leave as fast as possible when Nat asked about the importance of the Tesseract and the Scepter?" Clint asked after a moment of silence.
"He was hiding something." Tony agreed. "I'd love to know what it is."
"We won't find out until he returns." Steve said with a sigh and turned to Bruce. "Are you sure that you know how to contact him?"
"No." Bruce shook his head. "That part was just... weird. He explained it three times, I think."
"Dr. Selvig knows how to do it." Natasha threw in and turned to Tony. "You're still in contact?"
He nodded. "Of course."
"You can continue thinking about all this until your hair is grey or Thor returns, but I'm really hungry." Sam said suddenly. "How does pizza sound to you?"
"Good idea." Tony agreed immediately.
"This still bothers me." Steve declared when they were on their way inside again, but he also didn't argue about the pizza.
"Why are you guys always thinking about food?" Natasha muttered.
"I want my usual." Clint said simply.
"I can do this." Tony muttered and pressed the call button. He breathed in deeply, trying to stay calm.
"Hello? Tony?" Pepper answered after the second ring.
"Hey Pep." He greeted her, trying to sound calm. "How are you? How's LA? Everything alright at SI?"
"Yes, everything's good." He noticed the surprise in her voice. She was gone for four days now and finally, Tony had found the courage to call her. He was still insecure about this, but Steve had been right. Shutting her out now would make everything even worse. They needed to figure things out together. "I'm busy at the company, but it's the usual. No problems. One of our partners in Europe is expanding."
"That's great." He said. "But you're not working too much, are you?"
She laughed, but it sounded quite breathless. "Of course not. I hope you aren't staying up at night?"
"Not at all." He lied immediately.
"Tony." Pepper couldn't quite keep the worry from her voice. "Is everything alright?"
"Shouldn't I be the one to ask that question?" He asked instead of answering. "How are you feeling?"
"As I said, I'm fine."
"I miss you." The words were out before he could stop them. God, what a mess all this was.
"I miss you too." Pepper's voice was barely a whisper through the phone.
Her cleared his throat. "I thought that I could come to LA soon? See how things are going?" I want to see you. He didn't say it, but the message was clear.
"That would be good. I think you need to sign a few documents at SI anyway." Well, that wasn't a no, was it? But it also didn't sound thrilled.
"I'll see when I'm free. We're still working on the Extremis and there are a few other things we have to deal with..."
"It's fine, take your time." She interrupted him.
"I want to see you." He emphasized. "Not SI." He breathed in deeply. "And I'm sorry."
"Tony..." She said hesitantly.
"No, really. I'm sorry for being such an idiot. Really, I see that now." He sighed. "I know that this is the worst way possible to apologize. Actually, I wanted to surprise you in LA and tell you that I've been stupid and that I love you. That we'll work things out with the baby. But I just..."
"It's fine." She said suddenly. "Let me suggest something. You'll come here soon, apologize again and then we'll talk about everything. Alright?" Did he just imagine it or was she sounding hopeful?
"Alright." He agreed.
Suddenly, there was a noise in the background. Tony recognized Happy's voice. "I have to go now. There'll be a meeting soon." Pepper apologized.
"I love you." Tony whispered.
"I love you too." She said before she ended the call.
Tony breathed in deeply and looked at the Statue of Liberty in the distance. This was really a good place to think. It was so quiet up there, even if it was in the middle of the city -
"Hey, Mr. Stark! What are you doing up here all alone?" Peter Parker's voice startled him and he flinched. When he turned around, the kid was standing right in front of him.
"Alright, let me tell you something. You can't just sneak up on people who're sitting on the edge of a rooftop!" He said loudly and hoped that his heartbeat would calm down again soon. "That's not how it works!"
"The first time we talked, you did basically the same to me." Peter took off his mask and frowned.
"That's different!" Tony argued immediately and began to tell him a long story why he could do such things, but Peter couldn't. In the course of their argument, Tony had to smile. Maybe it wasn't bad to be up here with someone else after all.