Iron Man

Friction

Part Five

Sitting down in his living room with a mix of folders, reports and emails covering the table, Tony scratched his head as a sigh escaped his lips.

His investigative side took over as he looked over at the information he found on Victor Peterson. From his birth certificate up to his college years. Peterson always had an obsessive personality. From mishandling animals to many assaults in college, but one of those assaults caught his attention when the name Virginia Potts reached his eyes.

Tony's mind wandered back to some of the female employees filing reports on Victor's aggressiveness toward them. One woman claimed he almost grabbed her neck. The more he read, the more worried he became.

Sighing, Tony scratched his head as he continued to reading more documents.

Setting down another folder, Tony rose to his feet when the doctor walked down the stairs. She sat in the chair with a sigh before looking back at Tony, who sat down as well.

"How is she?"

Tired and somewhat confused, I sent samples of the food and water she had been drinking along with a strong thin layer of dust on her clothes to the lab a few hours ago.

"So you think she was drugged."

"Definitely," the doctor said. "Didn't you say Mr. Peterson is good with chemicals?"

"Yes, from his files he majored in chemical science."

"Then yes, he's be drugging Ms. Potts."

"I see."

"If she were in a hospital setting, we could flush out the chemicals much quicker, but since you refused to do that, it will take at least two weeks for her system to return to normal."

"I understand, thank you, doctor."

"Don't mention it, The Doctor said, standing up.

Tony stood up as well and walked the doctor to the door.

"I will call you when I get the results."

Tony nodded as the Doctor left. Shutting the door behind her, tony walked over to the table but looked back at the stairs. Not wanting to read anymore, he headed to the stairs. That would before later. Right now, he wanted to check on Pepper.

Laying in the spare bedroom staring up at the ceiling, tears trickled down Pepper's cheeks. Her mind flashed back to victor pulling one arm and Tony pulling the other. The fight of her past and present.

She was glad she choose Tony, but how could she let herself get pulled into Victor's web so deep. If Tony hadn't been there, she didn't know what would of happen next.

My muse

Shaking her head, Pepper did her best to shake victor out of her mind even now it was still hard to do so. Then her mind wandered back to the time victor wrapped his hands around her neck, choking the life out of her.

If I can't have you, my muse, then no one can

Pepper's eyes widen as she sat up in bed with her hands touching neck breathing hard. As more tears flooded her vison, a pair of arms pulled her close, stroking her back as a voice whispered in her ear.

"It's alright you're safe."

"Tony"

"Hm," Tony said, as he continued rubbing Pepper's back.

"I am sorry for not telling you about Victor."

"It's okay. I had to admit I was jealous at first, but now I am worried he's dangerous man"

Pepper snuggled close. He wasn't wrong. Back then she found out too late and even now some people don't change.

"I can't believe I let him pull me in again,"

It wasn't your fault."

"That day still haunts me. He needed his muse and didn't want to let me go," Pepper said, blinking away her tears.

Tony pulled Pepper back into his embrace as she rubbed her face against his chest, sobbing. Remaining silent, Tony continued rubbing her back, letting her get it all out of her system.

I will do everything I can to make sure he doesn't hurt you again.

A few hours passed, and Pepper was sound asleep. Tony sighed as he watched her. He was glad she was sleeping. Now he had to figure out how he was going to keep his promise. Standing up slowly, Tony walked out of the room and gently shut the door behind him. Just as he walked down the hall, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to see Happy was calling him. Swiping the green button, he held the phone up to his ear.

"Hey Happy, what up?" Tony asked.

"Um, we got a problem..." Happy said hesitantly.

"Go on."

"It's Peterson. He got away, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know where he's heading."

Tony swallowed hard, gripping his cell phone tighter. Crap, looks like he would have to deal with Victor sooner than he liked. Looking back at Pepper's room, he knew he couldn't let him get near her again.

"Get here as soon as you can. We have a lot of planning to do."

Back on the road, Victor smiled as he kept driving. Glancing over at the passenger seat, his smile grew as he laid eyes upon a steel bat, a bundle of rope and sliver flask sticking out of his duffle bag. While he didn't want things to go like this, he had no choice. Instead of being the hero of this story, he would have to be the villain. Which didn't bother him, for this was his story and that meant the villain always wins.