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Chapter 37
Tony Stark and Rhodey had arrived at a luxurious hotel that sat across from the Collesium in Rome. It had been raining when they had been transported by Soli's ship that afternoon.
Pepper was due to arrive at the hotel that evening as part of her European travels for work.
Rhodey had tried to help Tony by carrying a bag of things that he had brought down from the ship. But, Tony insisted that he did have at least one good arm. He had sat the dark duffel on the bed of one of the hotel rooms.
The rain kept him from going out to the balcony to allow him to enjoy the view.
Rhodey tapped on the door. "Hey. Are you hungry?"
"Nah." Tony told him.
He nodded. "Alright."
"I think I'll take a shower." He decided. If for no other reason than to just be by himself.
Rhodey didn't seem to mind and closed the door behind himself.
Tony was finally left alone. Then he realized that this was the first time he had been alone since he had escaped from the cave.
Just the thought of the cave made him momentarily lose his breath. He had unconsciously crossed the room and opened the door. He blinked his eyes open as he arrived in the hallway with the lovely stone archways and pillars.
He stopped in the hallway and quietly said to himself. "You're cracking up, man. Why are you even out here?"
"Tony!"
His head snapped up in time to see Pepper.
She smiled at him. "You shaved!"
He had already forgotten about that. He rose his free hand and rubbed the stubble. "Yeah, I probably need to shave again."
She approached him and smiled warmly, "You look a lot better than Rhodey had prepared me for."
He nodded, "I'm doing a lot better. Just the..um…."
"Sling." They said together.
Pepper smiled. "Do you think you need some help shaving?"
"Nah." He said automatically.
"How are you feeling?"
"Hmm. Good."
"Yeah-"
"Yeah. I think so. I mean, yes."
"Yes?" She asked and laughed.
He found himself tongue-tied. "Umm. See…umm."
She shook her head and looked at the files she was carrying.
Tony took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Actually, would you mind?"
She looked up at him. "Would I mind what?"
"Helping me shave?"
She smiled and mouthed, "Of course, I don't mind, Tony. Come on."
He followed her into the gorgeous bathroom. The tilework mixed with antique carved stone sparkled against the sun that was finally beginning to come out from behind the rain clouds.
He walked over to the sink and turned on the hot water to allow it to warm up.
Pepper was busy going through a smaller leather bag that he grinned at the sight of. The familiar bag had accompanied her whenever she traveled with him.
"You brought my stuff." He grinned.
She didn't look up as she unpacked it on the counter. "Of course, I did. I thought you would probably need a shave, but I had no idea you had decided to get rid of your entire beard. That was kindof your thing."
He glanced up at her and grinned as he allowed the warm water to spill across his hand. "Maybe it's time for another thing."
She took a small towel from the cabinet and rolled it into a ball. "Is it hot?"
"It's getting there." He said as she ran the towel under the water and wrang it out.
She handed it to him as she turned away to organize what she needed. "Here. Go ahead and find a place to sit down."
Tony noted that she was avoiding looking at him. He sat down on a lovely stuffed chair just outside the bathroom door.
He looked around his bedroom. The ceilings were tall and had been carved out of some sort of wood. At least that's how they looked. He wondered who else may have sat in this very chair, and looked up at the same ceiling. It rather brought his nerves a bit of relief. After the dark, cold walls of the cave, the ceiling was the most beautiful thing he had seen in a very long time.
Pepper was still busy buzzing about in the bathroom. He sat on the chair and held the towel in his hand. His shoulder and new muscle tissue had started to ache. Unconsciously, he rose the hot towel to his shoulder and grimaced.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"How do you think they carved this ceiling?" He rubbed his shoulder and pointed. "Or is it stone? What is it?"
He didn't hear her move the chair but suddenly found her sitting in front of him. Sitting more eye level with her, she was finally forced to look at him.
He could see the worry in her eyes. He grinned and took the towel from his shoulder. "Pepper, I'm fine."
She quickly grabbed his hand and gently moved it back to his sore shoulder. "Just keep that one there. Your shirt is already wet. I'll get you another one."
"Thank you." He said as he looked back up at the ceiling and became lost in his thoughts again.
She stopped and looked at him in surprise.
He never saw her and continued to rub his shoulder. "What do you think?"
She looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know. Maybe some marble?"
"I didn't think of that. Yeah."
He looked at her, "It's….pretty. Don't you think?"
She smiled. "Yes. I think so."
He rubbed his shoulder. "Marble."
"Tony, do you need a pain pill?"
"No. I have a weird box attached to me that is giving me medicine."
Pepper thought about what he said.
He looked up at her. "What?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I've never heard of that. That's pretty cool."
He laughed under his breath at her as she walked back into the bathroom to wet another towel in the hot water.
"Alright, I'm going to put this one on your face."
He leaned the chair back and she spread it on his face.
He inhaled it deeply. The steamy heat felt good against his skin, but it seemed to be getting hotter. Tony suddenly panicked at not being able to see what was going on. Before he knew what he had done, he saw the towel hit the wall across from him.
Dreading looking at her, he slowly moved his eyes. Pepper sat on the chair next to him with a look of surprise on her face. "Tony?"
"You know? I think it's warm enough."
She walked over and picked up the towel. She sat back down and began to rub the brush of shaving cream against his skin. He closed his eyes and relaxed as she shaved him. She had done it so many times before, that it made him finally feel like he had arrived home. He was able to finally relax with her there.
He held up his finger to ask her to pause. This is a system they had worked out years ago, but he found he didn't do it often when he wanted her to pause so he could speak. She had complained about it often.
She stopped, "Are you alright?"
He said, "I just was thinking. We should get some cheeseburgers."
She wiped off the razor, "Rhodey just left to get some cheeseburgers. He's worried about you."
He groaned and closed his eyes again. "Mother Rhodes needs a drink."
Pepper smiled and began to shave him again. "I'll see he gets two."
He lay back and had nearly fallen asleep when he heard her voice quietly tell him, "Okay, I'm not going to cover your face with the towel. I'm just going to wipe it off."
He nodded and kept his eyes closed as she finished.
"Alright, I'm finished." She said. Just as she always had.
He sat up and rubbed his face.
"Sorry, I forgot the mirror in the bathroom-"
"It's fine." He said as he rubbed his hand across it and sat his chair up. "How does it look?"
She smiled. "So different."
"Good different? Bad?"
"Different."
"Yeah, I'm not sure it's a permanent thing or not."
Without the distraction of the shaving, Pepper sat back in the chair and met his eyes.
"You don't have to look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"As if I'm fragile. It looks like you're waiting for me to break."
"Rhodey told me-"
"What did he tell you?"
"I know as much as you've told him."
He nodded. "Okay."
"Tony. I agree with Rhodey that you need to probably talk to someone."
"I've talked to everyone, Pepper. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
She didn't appear surprised.
He closed his eyes looked down at the floor. "I just…want to get well, and continue my life. Forget about it."
She sighed and stood up to take everything back into the bathroom.
He removed the wet towel from his shoulder. He walked back into the bathroom and put on some aftershave with his one good hand. He held it out and looked at the label. "Is this the same stuff?"
Pepper looked back at him, "Yes. I haven't changed anything."
He sat it back on the cabinet and watched Pepper sort out the bag.
"Pepper, can I ask you something?"
"Oh God," She smiled, "What in the world do you want to ask that you are asking permission-"
"Do you know Danny Morgan?"
Her reaction was not what he expected. She dropped her hands and looked at him. "Who in the world told you about that?"
"About that?"
"Damn it. I swear! That damn Rhodey. He can't keep his mouth shut, I'm going to kill him-"
"Woah, woah, woah. You, and Danny Morgan?"
She covered her face in embarrassment. "That happened years ago. I can't believe Rhodey told you!"
Rhodey's voice could be heard from outside the door. "I've got food."
"Rhodes!" Pepper shouted and stormed out of the door.
"Hang on-" Tony began, but Pepper never heard him. She was already halfway down the hall.
He shook his head in surprise and mumbled. "Wow. I'm the only one who is missing out with this guy."
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