Chapter 19 Peter/Tony: The last straw
Pepper's point of view
As soon as the story of the events of the Battle of New York became apparent, I ordered an immediate return to the city.
The scene on the television before me is one of chaos… aliens, debris, civilians at risk and the heroes…
8 of them… the one with the red white and blue shield, the one with the bow and arrow, the one with the electric thingies at her wrists… the big angry green guy, the guy in the red and gold suit, the guy with the hammer and the kid shooting spider webs.
The news broke of the World Security Council launching a nuclear weapon at New York City to get rid of the aliens, and Iron Man - the world's best defender - took said nuke and put it in the portal that the aliens had created while the guy with the hammer - Thor - closed the portal. As Iron Man went through the portal, and released the nuke, he ran out of oxygen and began to fall backwards, rapidly. Hulk grabbed him before he hit the ground…
"Ms Potts, we're about to land"
I took off my heels and put on my sneakers… and stretched out my calves and quads.
"J.A.R.V.I.S. Elevator status"
"Elevator is unavailable"
"Crap!"
I jumped out of the plane before it had fully landed and ran down 110 storeys as fast as I could.
When I got to the 90th floor, I heard two people follow me down the rest of the stairs. I didn't have time to turn and see who they were.
I landed at the bottom of the last flight of stairs, stepped outside into Manhattan and found Iron Man sitting up, his faceplate off.
When he saw me, he smiled.
"What the hell were you thinking?" I demanded
"Fury told me there was a nuke coming in hot ETA 3 minutes, I had to do it Pep… I had no choice, it was that or risk the total annihilation of the tristate area"
"Oh"
The Hulk disappeared, leaving a rather dishevelled and sheepish looking Dr Bruce Banner in his place… he and Thor helped Tony to his feet.
"We're going to the shawarma place two blocks from here… if you want to join us"
"All right."
I felt something collide with me… I glanced down to see our thirteen-year-old son, Peter. He was dressed in some kind of superhero garb. I glared at him and then at Tony and then back at him.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"I begged to be allowed to join the team"
"Yeah, and what did I tell you? I told you to watch and learn from the window upstairs, not get involved. You could have got seriously hurt or worse. You know what? I'm making an adult decision here… That's it. I've had it with the defiance, I've had it with the attitude, and I've really had it with your mouth! You're grounded… get upstairs right now." Tony snapped
"I don't get to go for Shawarma?"
"No… upstairs… right now" Tony's voice was absolutely deadly
"What am I supposed to eat?" Peter asked, defiance in his eyes
"Cereal… and as soon as you're finished, wash your plate and go immediately to bed. If I have to tell you one more time, I'm going to come up there and roast your backside. You know how I feel about slow obedience!"
"This is bullshit I want to be part of the team, and you won't let me, you never spend ANY time with me any more. It's like you don't fucking care."
"Hell no, I won't."
"You know what? That's it… bed… now… without dinner" Tony's voice was deadly. He was furious.
"Fuck you Stark"
"What?"
"You heard!"
"You're an impudent ungrateful brat… get to your bed right now" Tony growled, "I will deal with you tomorrow morning you little shit"
"No you won't, you bastard, I'm leaving now, I hate you, you're a jerk, I used to think you were cool, but you've proven to me that you're nothing more than a fucking jackass with a stick up his ass that has a stick up its ass who doesn't care. I'm done… you can't treat me like I'm still a sweet innocent obedient 8-year-old… I'm 15 and if I want to be an Avenger, you should let me… I've proven to you that I'm responsible… you're the one who needs to grow up." Peter spat…
"I'm not arguing about this… BED. NOW." Tony snapped
Peter reared back and socked Tony on the nose with as much force as he could muster… and for good measure he shot a web at Tony's face… effectively gluing his mouth closed. He webbed himself out of the skylight without a backward glance.
Peggy came downstairs…
"What happened here?"
"Peter decided to stand up to Tony… and he's left… before he left, though, he punched Tony and broke his nose…"
"And webbed my mouth shut" said Tony, trying to speak around the web
Peggy sighed
"I'll wake Howard" she said
"I'm going to contact Shane and the others…"
"Good idea."
"There's something going on with that boy… He used to be so good about telling us what was happening to him, and now he's secretive and brooding."
"I think he's being coerced or manipulated somehow, which is why he's acting like this…"
Instead of the team going to the Shawarma restaurant, Jay volunteered to go and get take out.
"Peter ran away…"
"WHAT?"
"Tony, why aren't you taking this more seriously?"
"He broke my nose and stuck a web to my face… how am I supposed to take it seriously when I can't talk?" Tony scribbled.
I called Shane.
"He's here Pep, he's really, furious… I've never seen him this angry before. Do you want me to send him home?"
"No… not if he's angry. He's already broken Tony's nose…"
"Do you want to talk to him?"
"If he wants to talk to me and explain himself, I will, if not, then no."
"He's up on the roof… he's got a bullhorn and a big flashlight and Ned is filming him…"
"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON SO BADLY, MOM AND DAD? OK, THEN… FINE… I'LL TELL YOU! LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS FOR WEEKS! YOU'RE EITHER TOO BUSY OR YOU SIMPLY DON'T CARE… EITHER WAY… THIS IS WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING WHILE YOU'VE BEEN SHAGGING LIKE RABBITS! A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO…"
Leaving this one on a cliffhanger too… it will be explained in my NaNo novel.
Chapter 21 Tony/Bruce/Cap: Civil War: the aftermath
Tony's point of view
I woke up in a clinically white room…
Pain radiated from every orifice of my body…
It was so bad that I couldn't even sit up.
Pepper was sitting by my side. She looked awful… tears silently sliding down her face.
"Ouch" I muttered
"Tony?" Pepper murmured "BRUCE! He's awake!" she yelled, turning to yell over her shoulder. Bruce came over…
He pressed a button and the top of the bed went up a little.
"OW!" I yelled
Bruce pressed something on my finger and the pain dissipated.
I scowled at the drip in my arm and tried to remove it, but Bruce grabbed my hand
"Tony… don't struggle against this…"
"I hate hospitals, you know that… traitor."
"Tony, Bruce is trying to help you"
"Do you want me to sedate you?"
"No, I want you to tell me what the hell happened… I want you to tell me why I'm stuck in this stupid bed, and then I want to talk to Pepper… alone."
"OK… You're stuck in this bed because you and Rogers had a fight in Siberia, and he hurt you badly. He almost killed you, Tony… he broke the arc reactor. I had to get Obie to help me to repair it. Rogers is in jail… and he will stay there…"
"Good"
"Let mom and dad know that I'm here, please, and why?"
"OK"
Nat, Wanda, Pietro, Scott, T'Challa, Shuri and Hope came to visit.
"Why did you go on your own to confront him?" Shuri asked and T'Challa scowled at her
"Technically, I didn't… Vision was with me… "
"Yes, but I couldn't do anything after Rogers hit me with one of Nat's Widow's Bites"
"Vis, it's not your fault that I'm in the state I'm in…"
"No you're right Tony, it's not it's your fault…" Pepper snapped
"Hey, wait a minute, Pep…"
"No, you, wait a minute… when are you going to stop being this reckless and selfish and stop risking your life?"
"Oh god. This argument. Again?"
"I'm going to stay with Vince and Linda"
"Yeah, you do that honey… and once you remove the stick from your ass, you can come back, and we'll talk"
"WANDA!" yelled Dad
"It's not me! I'm not manipulating her… someone is, but it's not me, I would never do that… I know who it is, but not why. I can protect her."
"Pepper wait!" said Mom
"No, thank you… goodbye, Tony. Maybe I'll see you around when you've grown up and stopped playing toy soldier!"
"VIRGINIA POTTS… CLOSE YOUR MIND… AT ONCE!" Loki thundered
"DON'T CALL ME VIRGINIA… MY NAME IS GINNY… OR PEPPER!" Pepper shrieked, punching Loki ferociously on the nose.
"I'm being serious, Ms Potts, close your mind! Strange is trying to manipulate your thoughts"
"WHAT?" cried dad
"SHIT!" I yelped
"Bruce" said mom in her no nonsense voice, "Call Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape at once!"
Peggy's point of view
I could see the sheer panic in Howard's eyes… he was trembling from head to toe…
"Mom, what's got Dad spooked?"
I glanced at Howard and he nodded…
"Are you sure?"
"Yes… no more secrets… no more hiding…"
"Do you want to do it or should I?"
"I'll do it myself Peg… just… don't leave"
"OK"
"Bruce, gather the others… I need to talk to you all"
"OK"
Once everyone was together
"Kids… there's something I need to tell you… something happened to me… many years ago… and it was awful…"
To Be Continued…
AN: Yep, I'm leaving this one on a cliffhanger… you'll have to read my NaNo novel to understand what Howard is talking about… and be warned it's not something pleasant or happy…
