It was Sunday and Pepper still hadn't heard from Tony and she was nervous about the storm and what island he was knew Tony wouldn't miss a call home unless it were for a good reason. She was feeding the baby and Morgan was moping around.
"I miss Daddy,"
"I know. I miss him too and I'm sure he will call soon," Pepper said as she cleaned up and decided to put the baby in his play pen.
"Can we get ice cream?" Morgan asked.
"Yes. Let's go to the park and we'll stop at the ice cream truck," Pepper said as she began to get their things ready.
Pepper watched as Morgan played in the jungle gym and she was rocking James in the carriage.
Tony got up around noon and every part of his body was aching from his fall.
"I want room service and then I'm going to the hot tub and I'm going to try and call Pepper again. I told her I'd have daily check-ins. She is going to be pissed," Tony said as he winced.
"I'm sorry. We're having bad weather. There's a hurricane in the Atlantic, and we've been getting the bands from the storm. You may want to get into that hot tub before it rains."
"Well I'm going to go down there now then," Tony said agitatedly.
He went down to the lobby and was desperately trying to find a place where he could get a signal. He slammed his phone angrily and went to the hot tub. He slid in and the hot water felt nice on his achy muscles. This whole thing was really more than he signed up for. He closed his eyes and he was really missing Pepper and the kids. And he was really worried about Pepper. Things have been tough since the birth of James and Pepper pretends she can do it all. He was going to do something really special for her when he got home. He was in paradise and he just wanted to go home. There was only a few days left of this mission and he would see his family again. He was still laying there with his eyes closed when he could hear thunder crack and rain began to pelt him in the face.
"PERFECT," Tony said angrily to no one in particular. He got his things and gathered them and hurried back up to the room to order room service.
Pepper pulled up to the house and unbuckled Morgan. She was about to get James when Morgan tugged on her shirt. Pepper looked at her daughter who was pointing and about fifty yards away were two men in orange jumpsuits. Pepper ducked down and went around to the other side of the car. If they could make it inside they would be safe but she couldn't do it all at once. She dragged Morgan with her and went around to the side door and put her hand up.
"Listen to me honey. I need you to go straight inside upstairs to the special room and I need you to mute F.R.I.D.A.Y in every room except with you ok? I am going back for your brother and ill be joining you shortly. I need you to stay in there no matter what until I tell you. Do not come out. Go," Pepper said as she closed the door.
Morgan nodded and ran inside to do what her mother told her.
She went back to the car and opened the door and got baby James. She looked around and the guys were nowhere to be found. She breathed a sigh of relief. They had spared her house. She turned around and they were dragging her to the door. She held James tightly and he began to cry. They grabbed her purse and shuffled around for the keys.
"Where are the keys?" one of them screamed at her while holding a gun on her.
"There are no keys. My handprint will open the door," she said, trying to remain calm.
"Open it now," he said.
Pepper tried to stop herself from shaking as she placed her hand on the pad.
The door clicked open and the man pushed them inside.
"Who else is here?" one of them demanded.
"Just me and the baby. My husband is away on a fishing trip with my daughter," she said as she tried to calm the baby.
"What's your name?" he asked while he pointed the gun again.
"It's Virginia and please don't point the gun. I can't calm my son down if I'm not calm," she said boldly.
"Joe put it down for a minute, clearly she's not a threat while holding her baby. I'm going to look around," said one of the men.
Pepper was soothing James and rocking him. After a few minutes he started to calm down.
"If I put him in his playpen he'll be calm until I need to feed him or change again," Pepper said.
"Do it and sit on the couch," Joe said.
Pepper did it quickly and she was hoping she could use F.R.I.D.A.Y to see into the panic room and see that Morgan was ok. The other guy walked into the room he sat on the couch next to Pepper.
"I'm Billy look , we won't hurt you or your baby if you do what you're told and you don't lie to us," he explained.
"Is anyone else here in the house?" he asked again.
"No, I told you my husband is away on a fishing trip with my daughter," she said.
She was lucky she was a convincing liar.
"When is he due back?" he asked.
"Wednesday," she said quietly.
"So I did a sweep of your property. It looks like a very expensive house and I couldn't get into the garage. I need to be able to when our ride gets here. No one can see us. I want you to open it," he said.
"A car won't fit in there. The garage is my husband's workshop," she said quietly.
"Listen lady we will make it fit or I will shoot you in the head," Joe said pointing the gun again.
"Joe, stop it. We're not here to hurt anyone," Billy said, scolding his partner.
"Can you let me see inside?" he asked Pepper nicely.
"Ok," she said as she got up and went over to the pad on the wall next to the garage door and typed a fake passcode.
It beeped and said access was denied.
"What's going on lady?" Joe said angrily.
"My husband must have changed the pass code. Our daughter likes to go in there and mess with his things. He changes it all the time. He must have changed it before he left and forgot to tell me," she said, trying her best to sound convincing.
"Call him NOW," Joe said, putting the gun against her head.
Pepper was shaking as she reached for her phone.
"And put it on speaker," he added.
"Joe, will you stop with the gun? You're scaring her. Right now we need her," Billy said as the phone went to voicemail.
"Hi Anthony I just need you to call me back as soon as you can. I need the passcode to the garage. I need to get in there. I left my sweater there that I wanted to wear. Love you," Pepper said.
Pepper hoped and prayed that Tony would know she would never call him Anthony and that he would call back right away.
"I haven't gotten a signal in two days and he hasn't called so I'm thinking that since he's in the mountains he must not be able to call out,"
"Isn't that convenient?" Joe said pointing his gun at Pepper and pushed her against the wall and had it pressed against her head again.
Billy grabbed the gun from him and clocked him over the head.
"Enough with the gun," he said.
"What the fuck man," Joe said holding the back of his head.
"There's a baby here and that gun is loaded. No playing around and we need her," Billy said.
Morgan was in the corner of the panic room and she was tapping her bracelet furiously. She began to cry. Daddy always told her that if she was in trouble that her bracelet would reach him no matter where he was. But Daddy wasn't answering. She hit it a few more times and then tried the phone.
"Joe, go make yourself useful and cut the power to the phone. We don't need her trying to call the cops," Billy said.
Just as Morgan picked up the phone the dial tone went dead and she was determined to figure out a way to call her dad.
Tony got back to the room and he was digging through his stuff when he finally found the gold bangle that he gave An identical one to Morgan for emergencies. He just wanted to call his family but when he looked closely he noticed tiny cracks causing internal damage to the mechanisms from his fall down the cliff.
"FUCK," Tony yelled and he was searching for anything in the room he could use to repair it.
"What's the matter?" Clint asked as he flipped on the television.
"That's it. I'm done. I played your little game for long enough. I'm done. I'm out of here. I haven't been able to reach Pepper and she must be worried sick,"
"Tony, tomorrow is the drop. Let's just catch this guy and we can go home together tomorrow," Clint begged.
"You don't need me here playing house. You have all the tech and what could I possibly do in a fight without my tech? I'm sorry I'm leaving and we don't need the cover. Tell them I'm leaving you," Tony said as he was throwing his things in a bag.
"Tony please reconsider," Clint begged.
"You promised me I'd be able to call Pepper for daily check ins," Tony said as he grabbed his bag and headed down to the lobby.
"Hi there. I need you to call a taxi that can take me to the nearest airport?" Tony said as he tried to dazzle the woman behind the desk.
"I'm afraid that's not possible," she said quietly.
"Sure it is," he said, handing her a one hundred dollar bill.
"I'm sorry sir but no one in or off the island. The hurricane seems to have moved and it's supposed to make landfall tonight at midnight and it's a category 3," she said.
"Look I really need to call someone and there is no service. Do you have a computer? Or some other way I can send a message?" he asked.
"There are computers over there in those cubbies," she said pointing to the other side of the lobby.
"Thank you," he said as he went over only to find that all of the computers were occupied and there were people waiting since no one seemed to have a signal. There was a 10 minute limit and about 4 people in line. He took a seat and was just going to have to wait it out. He asked the last guy on line to save his spot and told him he'd give him a $100 bill when he got back. He decided to go to the gift shop to see if there was anything he could use to fix his bracelet so he could call Pepper. He walked through and it was a bunch of useless junk but he saw a bear wearing a tie dye shirt that said Trinidad on it and he thought Morgan might like it and he bought it swiftly. He got back and paid the man and took his place in line while rolling his eyes.
Clint came down to the lobby and he was searching the rideshare area outside for Tony. Then he rounded the corner and saw him.
"Tony, what are you doing here?" Clint asked.
"Gee I don't know. I'm waiting in line to send an email to my WIFE," he said angrily.
"Keep your voice down," Clint scolded
"No I don't give a fuck. Look at me, I'm waiting online to use a computer. Is this how people live?"
"I know Tony. I'm sorry. But I need you. Look, they are having bingo tonight. We should go play and chill out,"
"I have not been able to get in touch with my family," Tony emphasized.
"I haven't talked to my family either," Clint stressed.
"I'm not going anywhere until I send an email," Tony said stubbornly.
"Fine I'll wait here for you and then we're going to bingo," Clint said.
"Boozy bingo," Tony muttered under his breath.
"Are you guys hungry or thirsty? Or need to use the shower," Pepper asked from her place on the couch. She was hoping her kindness would start to win them over.
"I could use a shower," Billy said.
"I can show you where the towels are and give you some of my husband's old clothes," she offered.
"That would be great," he said as he followed Pepper into the bedroom.
She went into the drawer and took out some of Tony's MIT sweats and she turned to face him.
"Am I going to be safe with Joe while you're showering?" Pepper asked nervously.
"Yes I'll take the gun," he said.
"I need to start the shower," Pepper said, using her hand print to start the water.
Billy came back with the guns and Pepper laid a towel and wash rag out and went back down the stairs quietly to check on James who was still in his playpen.
She picked him up and he was giggling.
Joe was watching and slowly crept up behind her.
"It's been a long time since I've been with a woman," he said as he brushed her hair off her neck.
Pepper felt a chill down her spine. She turned to face him and held James tight.
"How about you doll? Is your husband taking care of you?" he asked.
Pepper nodded silently.
"Surprised with a new baby. What about your other kid? How old is she?" he asked, pointing to Morgan.
"Three," Pepper said as she put James back down.
"You're very pretty but you know that already don't you," he said as he reached up to stroke her cheek.
Pepper backed up.
"I love it when girls play hard to get," he said as he smirked.
Billy entered the living room and Joe backed off.
"You should probably take a shower too. You stink," he said, shoving a clean towel at Joe.
"I hope you don't mind. I got another pair of sweats for Joe from that same drawer," Billy said.
"Your husband went to MIT huh?," Joe asked.
Pepper nodded and he headed upstairs.
Tony finally had his turn at the computer and he sat and typed an email.
Pep I'm so sorry. There is no service here and there is a storm coming in. I'm ok but I don't know when I'll be able to get back online. I love you. Kiss the kids for me.
He hit send and followed Clint. He needed a drink and a stiff one at that.
"I'm going to have to resume normal activities or people will ask questions. I have the baby to take care of and I have an Alpaca outside that needs feeding in the morning," Pepper said concerned.
"We will figure it out. I promise I will not hurt you and we should be out of your hair soon. I will let you resume normal activities under supervision of course but we need some things for you. The shower is a start. Something to eat would be great and get that passcode from your husband," he said.
Morgan was taking apart the wires from the phone and trying to find a way to reside it to send a signal to Uncle Happy.
Tony had three drinks when he finally won. Bingo.
"BINGO" he yelled as he sat up and the old woman at the table next to him glared at him.
Tony was feeling super nice. The bourbon was sliding down nicely. He figured since nothing was happening until tomorrow and a hurricane was coming that he might as well enjoy himself. Tony was collecting his winnings and grabbing another bourbon when an announcement came over the loudspeaker that all guests needed to be evacuated and moved to the Hurricane Center by 9pm. The liquor hit Tony hard and he started to stumble around like a fool. He did not drink the way he used to and it was hitting him pretty hard.
Clint sighed and grabbed drunk Tony. He was not in the mood for this.
"Where are we going? I'm on a hot streak," Tony said.
"To pack. We need to evacuate to the Hurricane center," Clint said, annoyed that clearly Tony was unable to retain information in his drunken state. They had two hours so he was going to have Tony sleep it off while he packed their things. Clint still had a mission to complete and the hurricane wasn't going to stop him.
