Chapter 12:
As expected, every time Tony released a "new toy", Pepper had tons of work to do. She had to schedule safety tests, board meetings, meetings with the army, demonstrations, interviews with magazines, newspaper, TV programs… and the list went on and on!
By the end of the month, Pepper was exhausted! After finishing her work, she started to send e-mails to her friends. Tomorrow it was her birthday and she was planning to spend it with some of her closest friends. Nothing fancy, just a friendly reunion. The red-head looked at the clock. It was time to send Tony away, leave his house and do the shopping for her birthday party.
She left her office and met him in the hall that went to his room. He was all dressed up in a red blood shirt holding his blazer in his hands and yellow light glasses.
"What happened?" she asked.
"What?" he asked, clueless.
"You. All dressed and ready?"
He gave her a smug look.
"You underestimate me, Potts. You told me to get ready to go to Vegas." He smiled and gave her his blazer.
"You are not going there for fun," she answered, helping him get dressed. Pepper loved this. Ever since she felt at peace with her feelings for him, she had decided to enjoy these little moments with him: it was an excuse to be closer to him and touch him without seeming inappropriate. "You are going there to receive an award. You will meet Mr. Stane at the Cezar's."
"Relax Pep. I've received thousands of awards, this is no different." She finish fixing his blazer and turned to look at him. "You should come with me."
"I have to finish the preparations for your trip tomorrow. You won't spend the night there-"
"Why not? It's Las Vegas-" he argued, pouting.
"Receive the award and get back here-"
"The most fun city in the world-"
"Your plane leaves for Afghanistan tomorrow morning-"
"It would be a waste not to enjoy it-"
"Everything is ready for the presentation of the Jericho-"
"I can take the plane from there," he insisted.
"You will meet Colonel James at the helipad. And no, you won't sleep in Las Vegas. You will get back here."
Tony narrowed his eyes and gave a smile before speaking in a low tone. "I'm starting to suspect that you want me all for yourself, Potts," he smiled as she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Keep dreaming Stark," she said, pretending to be annoyed at him.
"I will."
"Go!" she ordered him.
"You know… I love it when you order me around."
She gave him an impatient look and he just kept that damn smile on his face, and then started to walk to his car where he met Happy. Before Tony could speak with the driver Pepper was already giving him orders.
"Happy. Don't let him spend the night; he needs to get back here tonight."
"You really don't trust me-" Tony said, pretending to be hurt by her lack of trust in him in Las Vegas. After all, he knew she was right.
"In Las Vegas?! No!"
He laughed at her.
"It's okay, Miss Potts," assured Happy, trying to suppress a smile as he opened the door for his billionaire boss and closed it after Tony was inside. The playboy opened the window to give her one last smile followed by a wink before Happy drove off.
Pepper watched as the two of them left the mansion unaware of the smile on her face. After that she grabbed her things and left Tony's mansion to shop for her party.
-o-
When she finally arrived at her building, Pepper left her car in her garage and went inside to meet with Luis who was the doorman to her condo.
"Good evening, Luis." Pepper greeted him with a polite smile.
"Evening Miss Potts, how was your day?" He replied, his voice lilted with a little Spanish accent.
"It was fine, thank you. I was wondering have you-"
"I didn't forget about you, Miss Potts. I reserved the Social Area of the condominium for you. Everything is ready for your reunion tomorrow."
"Good, I don't even know how to thank you for that… these last weeks have been crazy."
"Don't worry about it. I've seen you coming home late these last few days. It was nothing, I was glad to help." He handed the keys of the area to her.
"Thank you again, Luis."
"Have fun tomorrow, Miss Potts. And if I don't see you: Happy birthday!"
Pepper thanked him one last time before pressing the elevator buttons. While she was waiting, she couldn't help but compare Luis with her crazy genius boss. She had known Tony for over nine years now and he never, ever, not even once was he able to remember her birthday. As for Luis; he had been working in her building for three years and she had just had small talks with him when she arrived home or was leaving for an event, and he had always remembered her birthday ever since.
Well, I can not fully blame Tony… Lord knows the man lacks social skills! she thought, stepping inside the elevator. It was true: you could give Tony the most complex circuit system already built and he felt at home with it. It was easy for him to understand. But give him basic human interaction for him to analyze and he would fail miserably!
She had just locked the door of her apartment when her phone started to ring. She answered it before it went to answer phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey,girl!" Pepper recognized Karol's voice on the phone. "Ready for the big day tomorrow?"
"Hey Karol, I just arrived home with some drinks and snacks for us," she replied, putting the bags in her kitchen.
"I can't wait! Listen, can I sleep at your house tomorrow? I intend to drink a lot at your party!"
Pepper smiled. "Sure, you can always crash here!"
"Thank you. What time can I be there?"
"By afternoon, I have to send Tony away tomorrow morning."
"You should invite him to the party… After all these years that you have worked for him, I still do not know him."
"Don't even think about it!" she warned. "Besides he has a presentation to do in the Middle East."
"It's a shame… Again I lost my chance with him!" she joked, very aware of her friends feelings for her boss, half expecting a jealousy reaction from the redhead, but that didn't happen.
Pepper knew well how to hide her emotions. "Another time maybe. I have to go, still have to get somethings ready for tomorrow."
"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow!"
Pepper hung up the phone, and went to finish setting things up for her party.
By the time she was done, it was after midnight. She went to her room to get ready for bed. On her bed was the birthday present that Tony had "gave" her. Since he always forgot about her birthday, it had become a tradition for him to make it up with a present. Over the years she just stopped trying to remind him and went straight to buy her present with his money. Every time that she saw something that was way too expensive for her, she left it to buy it for her birthday with his money. This time, it was a beautiful Armani blue backless dress. She looked at it one last time wondering when she would get the chance to wear it.
After storing her dress in her closet, Pepper lay on her bed feeling the exhaustion of the day finally consume her. She was almost asleep when a message arrived on her phone. It was JARVIS informing her that Tony was back home and with a guest. She felt a sting in her heart every time she received a message like that. Practical as she was, she decided to ignore it and concentrate on the facts: Well at least he came home and didn't spend the night in Vegas, she thought, finally letting sleep consume her.
-o-
Next morning Pepper arrived at the mansion early, and asked JARVIS to remind Tony the time his plane had to leave. After that, she went straight to collecting Tony guest's clothes to get them clean and pressed. She had almost finished with the woman's clothes when Rhodey called her.
"Morning Pep, please tell me that Tony has already left the house?"
"He is not there yet?" she asked, frowning.
"Nope!"
"JARVIS?" she called out to the AI whilst still on the phone with the Colonel.
"He is aware of it,Miss Potts," answered the AI System. "Mr. Stark is currently working on the Red Hot."
Pepper sighed heavily. "Don't worry, James, I will send him on his way right now."
"Thanks," said Rhodey. "Oh, and Happy Birthday!"
She smiled at her friends wishes. "Thank you." She ended the call.
Minutes later, she finally finished working on the woman's clothes, and JARVIS informed her that the guest was already up and Pepper went to meet her.
"Tony?"
Pepper heard her call for the billionaire. After spending a night with him they all acted intimately, like they had been dating Tony for months, and usually appeared wearing his shirts! Pepper sighed heavily, determined not to allow her feelings get in the way.
"Hey, Tony?" the woman called again and this time Pepper heard JARVIS reply.
"You are not authorized to access this area."
When Pepper finally saw the woman, she was trying to get access to the workshop elevator and was clearly scared of JARVIS. Pepper decided to calm her.
"That's JARVIS. He runs the house," said Pepper, making her presence known.
The blond woman turned to meet her and looked at her with a mixture of defiance and curiosity.
Pepper ignored her glare and kept speaking with a polite voice. "Your clothes have been dry cleaning and pressed. There's a car outside ready to take you wherever you want."
While she explained what was happening next, the woman stepped closer close to her and accepted her clothes back.
"You must be the famous Pepper Potts," said the woman, running her gaze over Pepper from head to toe.
Pepper smiled shyly. "Indeed, I am."
The woman narrowed her eyes and gave her a provocative stare. "After all these years Tony still has you pick up the dry cleaning," she said, pretentiously.
For a moment, Pepper did not believe what she had heard. The woman spoke as if she had the knowledge of knowing everything about Tony and her, diminishing her part in his life. But what angered her was the intimacy that she spoke about Tony.
Spend one night with him and they already think they know all about him! she thought before answering the blonde woman.
"I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires." Pepper allowed herself to have a look of smugness on her face but kept her polite smile before continuing to speak. "Including, occasionally, taking out the trash." The woman wasn't stupid and Pepper knew she had received the message. "Will that be all?" she asked politely, as always.
The woman narrowed her eyes and excused herself murmuring something that Pepper couldn't hear. Once she was out of sight, Pepper asked JARVIS:
"JARVIS, do you know who she is?"
"She is a reporter from Vanity Fair Magazine, Christine Everhart."
"I knew she looked familiar," Pepper murmured. Trust Tony to sleep with reporters. They were the worst, always assuming they knew everything. Minutes later the reporter was out of the mansion, in a cab, going home.
"I could have taken her home," said Happy once she was inside the house again.
"No, Tony is already late. Get the car ready. He is leaving now," she said.
-o-
While she was going down the workshop stairs, Pepper could hear the blasting rock song that Tony liked to listen too.
One day he will go deaf, she thought, half listening to Rodney complain over the phone about Tony being late, again.
"I need to know when he will be coming. My superiors want an answer."
She finally arrived at the workshop door and saw her boss working on his precious car. Pepper dialed her password and JARVIS, automatically, cut Tony's music.
"I will keep you posted," she answered Rhodey and hung up the phone whilst Tony complained about the lack of his music. She briefly looked at him. "You are supposed to be half the way around the world right now."
Pepper looked down at the file in her hand. She had a couple of things to ask him before he left. After that, her whole afternoon was free to enjoy with her friends. She was looking forward to it.
"Tony, I need to speak with you about a couple of things before you leave," she said to him but he was ignoring her, still complaining about the schedule and how his plane was supposed to wait for him. Usually Pepper enjoyed these little tiffs, but today she was too anxious to have the afternoon to herself, so she decided to ignore him and went straight to business.
She started to talk about the Jackson Pollock's painting that Tony had expressed the desire to buy but had never given a definitive answer for. She stopped to look at him while he was wiping his hands. God, he was handsome with that black shirt and his favorite blue jeans!
As expected, when she told him her thoughts about the painting and how she thought it was way too much overpriced he immediately showed interest.
"I need it. Buy it," he said and she couldn't hold her smile. Pepper looked at her folder again. Now this was a topic she knew he was going to complain about. They were at the end of September and the MIT wanted him, as usual, for a commencement speech.
"The MIT commencement-" she started and as expected, he interrupted her.
"It's in June, Pep…" He started to walk to the back of the workshop and she followed him. "It will take a while… don't bother me with this."
"They are bothering me so, I bother you," she simply said.
"Just ignore them. I don't need this." He turned to face her and Pepper took the opportunity to get one file that was in her hand.
"I need you to sign here." She offered him her pen but he gave her a suspicious look.
"Why are you trying to get rid of me so fast? You have plans?" he asked.
Pepper had to fight her smile. Nine years and he still can't remember my birthday.
"Yes, I do," she replied coldly, still offering her pen. He ignored it again, and came closer to her: close enough for her to smell his cologne.
"I don't like when you have plans. We already have established that," he said with that sweet voice of his and she could tell she was losing her battle with her smile, but still managed to answer him with a serious face.
"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."
"It's your birthday?!" he exclaimed and she could tell that he was trying to make sense of the date. "I knew that!"
Oh I doubt it! she thought.
"…Already?" Tony asked.
He is so predictable! And at that time she lost her battle and a smile showed on her face. He was a little ashamed that he had forgotten her birthday again. Last year he had sworn to her that he would remember it. She couldn't help but decide to tease him a little more.
"Isn't strange… It's the same day as last year."
He smiled, remembering his promise to her.
"Get yourself a present for me."
"I already did."
His smile grew into a teasing one. "And..?"
As always, he wanted to know what she had bought with his money, maybe expecting another pair of shoes that he called 'Tony's torture equipment'. He does go on and on about how her legs looks with heels, and how she is an evil person to not let him get too close to appreciate them. But not this time, nope! Visions of her beautiful blue dress came to her mind, but she decided not to tell him all about it and mess a little with his imagination.
"It's really nice… very tasteful," she said, teasing him and he was grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."
"You're welcome, Miss Potts." He looked in her eyes and she pointed to the document. He signed.
"Okay, let's go!" He started to walk away and she followed him.
At the entrance to his house, Happy was already waiting for him.
"How about a little race, Happy?" Tony suggested.
"As you wish, sir."
"Tony, you are already late-" Pepper warned him.
"So a race is a faster way to get me there!" he grinned and all she could do was roll her eyes.
"Just get there. Rhodey is already waiting for you. You will get there just in time for your presentation."
"Pepper, you worry too much. Relax it's your birthday!" He smiled, teasing her, and she sighed, deciding that it was worthless to argue with him. "Any hot plans for the night, Potts?" he asked as he got inside his R8.
"I will enjoy my peace since my crazy boss will be out of town," she teased him and he laughed.
"Well… enjoy your little vacation." He turned the engine on. "I will be back from Afghanistan in no time." He gave her one last charming smile and drove off.
Pepper smiled as she saw the car disappearing down the road, followed by Happy in the Rolls Royce, unaware of the danger her boss was about to face.
-o-
After Tony left, Pepper finished with her paper work. She called Larry to give him Tony's answer about the painting and went to S.I. to file the documents. On her way out, Happy called her informing that Tony was on his way to Afghanistan and he had already had picked up his R8 and parked it in Tony's garage.
Just like her, Happy decided to enjoy his day off with a few friends he hadn't seen in a while.
By the afternoon Pepper had arrived at her condo to find Karol, Sandra and Betty waiting for her.
"There she is! Birthday girl!" greeted Karol, running to hug her. Pepper laughed at her silly friend.
"Happy Birthday!" said her other friends as they greeted her.
"Thank you, girls."
"So let's start this party or what?" questioned Karol, anxious.
"Sure, but I'm still waiting for Stuart and David," said Pepper, leading the girls to the Social Area reserved for her little reunion. They put on some music, and each one of them grabbed a beer, putting on the fire on the barbecue grill. It didn't take long until Stuart and David finally arrived.
Stuart was a co-worker at Stark Industries. He and Pepper had started together at the Accounting Department, and they had been friends ever since. Stuart was more than thrilled when Pepper had been promoted to be Tony Stark's Personal Assistant. He'd had a crush for their boss and always teased Pepper about it. His boyfriend, David, was a salesman at a very fancy boutique in LA.
"I see the girls started the fun without us!" teased David. "Here's your present!" He gave Pepper a bag. "I hope you like it. Happy birthday!"
Pepper opened it and it was a beautiful green dress with one shoulder strap, all wrinkled that seemed like that it would precisely hug her curves.
"Omg!" the girls cried.
"This is beautiful!" Pepper said, admiring her friend's present.
"You know…" initiated Stuart, taking control of the barbecue grill, "you should use it at the Stark Industries End of Year Party."
Pepper rolled her eyes at him.
"Actually it was not his idea, it was mine," admitted David. "You are so sexy; you should show yourself more often."
"Yeah, make Tony Stark crazy about you," teased Stuart.
"That's what I always tell her guys!" replied Karol. "Tony Stark's jaw will drop so low when he sees her in this!"
They didn't give time for Pepper to stop their fun at teasing her.
"You have to see how she orders him around at the company," laughed Stuart, ignoring Pepper's attempts to change the subject. "If only he would give me an opportunity… I'll make him switch sides!" he joked.
"Keep dreaming!" Betty decided to step in. "One day, those two will get married and have beautiful and smart babies!" They laughed.
"Okay," Pepper finally managed to speak. "That's enough. Thank you, boys, for the present. I really love it!"
David smiled at her.
"As for Tony Stark, Stuart I already told you… you should make your move."
"I even gave him my permission," grinned David. "If you are going to cheat on me with someone, better be with Tony Stark!"
"Alright," Sandra took control. "Enough about Tony Stark for the day let Pepper enjoy her rare day off." She lifted the bottle to make a toast. "To your happiness and success!"
"Cheers!" They toasted.
They spent the rest of the day laughing, chatting and drinking. In the afternoon Sarah, Pepper's sister, called her to wish her a happy birthday. Pepper was also able to speak with her three-year-old niece – finally her mother had a grandchild that she had wanted for so long. Pepper just wished she had more time to enjoy the child.
Later that night, after her friends left, Pepper and Karol went to her apartment.
"Awn man!" complained Karol. "I drank too much." Her words were slightly slurred.
Pepper smiled. "That was your plan, wasn't it?"
"Yeah." Karol put her hand on her head. "Now I'm starting to regret it." Pepper laughed. "I'm going to lay down. Happy birthday, Pep."
Pepper watched as her friend walked, tipsy, to the guest room and decided to get some rest too.
When she lay in her bed, Pepper felt the exhaustion consume her. She was tired, but happy. She had spent her birthday with some of her closest friends, and had a great time, laughed a lot. It was a good break from her routine. Tomorrow, Tony would be back with his crazy schedule and she felt like her batteries had just been charged to keep up with him.
-o-
The next day her alarm rang as usual. It was just another day, like many others in her life. Pepper got herself ready for work and went to make some coffee.
"Morning," muttered Karol, her voice hoarse.
"Morning." Pepper smiled. "How was your sleep?"
"I am never drinking again!"
Pepper laughed and went to sit with her for breakfast. It wasn't even 6:30 in the morning and her phone started to ring nonstop! The red-head looked at her phone ID, expecting to see Tony's face to tell her about the presentation, but instead there was a picture of Colonel James Rhodes.
"Hey, James," she greeted her friend with a smile on her face. "How was it? Did Tony behave during the presentation?" There was a silence on the other side of the phone until Rhodey spoke with a serious voice.
"Pepper… are you seated?"
She frowned. It was an odd question. "Yes... that bad, huh?" She was trying to imagine what her genius boss had done and how to handle it, all the excuses… But there was something about Rodney's voice that was making her nervous.
"Pepper, I'm calling you before the official statement."
Pepper frowned. She didn't know why but her heart started to beat fast at the Colonel's voice. When he spoke again, he spoke slowly.
"There was an attack. They killed every soldier and destroyed the convoy… We couldn't find him."
Pepper suddenly couldn't breathe.
Karol stopped eating when she saw her friend's nervousness.
"What? What are you saying? I don't-" She felt dizzy.
"After the missile presentation, there was an attack on Tony's convoy. Every soldier responsible for his safety was killed, but we couldn't find his body."
She felt like her whole body had hit against the wall. She felt lost… A cold wave ran through her body. Karol was at her side, but Pepper didn't really care at the moment.
"But is he alive? He is alive, right James?" she demanded to know. He had to be.
"…I don't know that,Pep." She could feel the hurt in his voice. "We think so."
"He's got to be," she said, reassuring herself. "Otherwise they would have had left his body…Who are they? Do they want money? That's it? How much? I- I- I will get the money ready!"
"We don't know yet. No terrorist group has taken responsibility for the attack yet."
They were in silence for a moment, both thinking about their missing friend. Pepper, always so collected, so in control of her state of mind, suddenly felt her emotions win her over.
"How could this have happened?" she yelled. "How did you let this happen? You were supposed to protect him!"
Karol, still not understand what was going on, touched her friend's hand.
At her touch, Pepper came back to her senses. "I'm sorry, James," she said, trying to calmer than she felt.
The Colonel was still in silence for a few more moments. "You don't have to apologise-"
"I do! You are his friend. You put yourself in danger to protect him all the time. It was not your fault. I'm glad that you weren't with him at the moment," she said, honestly.
"I'm not… I should have been… I could have done something."
Pepper could hear the despair in his voice. He had known Tony for practically all his life. It was a hard situation for him to not being able to protect his best friend, when Tony needed him the most.
"No… You would have gotten yourself killed."
"I could have helped him."
"You still can… you can find him." She tried to reassure him. "I have faith that you will find him." She was also trying to convince herself that Tony would be found. Her rational side knew very well how hard it was to find someone in Afghanistan. The terrorists had too many allies and the ground was full of unknown caves.
"I'll do anything in my power,Pep. I swear."
At that moment, after they had ended the call, Pepper felt her world fall apart. She didn't know what to do or what to think.
What if Tony was dead? What if they killed him and, fearing retaliation, decided to remain silent about it? What if they never found him?
In her mind came the last image that she had of him: wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and the smile he gave her after she teased him with her birthday present. His soft brown eyes, his smooth voice while he teased her back. She felt tears forming in her eyes. What if she never got to see him again and was forced to live in a world where Tony Stark didn't exist anymore?
"Here." Karol offered her a glass of water. Pepper took it with her shaking hands. "What happened?"
"Tony…" She couldn't bring herself to speak out loud. "Tony… Tony was kidnapped." It took all of her strength to say it. Trying to calm herself, Pepper explained everything to Karol.
Her friend didn't know how to help her. It took Pepper several minutes but finally she was able to regain her composure.
"I need to go to Stark Industries. We need to release an official statement."
"Ginny, you are in no condition to work."
"I need to…" she almost yelled. Pepper took a deep breath. "I need to take care of Tony's business. They will find him, and when he gets back everything needs to be in order for him."
Karol decided not to push her. It was obvious that she need something to focus on, and if taking care of Tony's business helped her, then so be it.