I know it's been a while since I've been able to update this one, but thanks for your patience! Life is finally starting to settle back down again, so here's to more regular updates! :D Happy reading! And thanks again!
On the drive back to LA, Tony welcomed the chance to visit with his good friend, though of course he was regretful that it wasn't Pepper riding beside him instead. But, with the chance to get his mind off of everything for a few hours, the ride flew by for the both of them, and before long, they'd reached LA. Tony pulled off the interstate an exit before the hospital, and Bruce had looked at him curiously. "I just, uh, have something I need to pick up before I see Pepper again," Tony explained softly.
He pulled into a quiet little seaside suburb, and pulled up to a small flower shop called "Flowers by Daisy", a tiny brick store front with a bright yellow awning hanging over head, on a very quaint looking main street. Bruce smiled knowingly. "Be right back," Tony told him before exiting the car. Bruce watched as he walked into the shop, hearing the bells on the door handle jingling cheerfully as his friend entered and disappeared inside. A few minutes later, Tony reemerged with a large bouquet of long stemmed red roses in a crystal vase, and a smaller bouquet of lilies wrapped in green florist's paper. He climbed back into the car, and handed them both to Bruce to hold.
"And I didn't get you anything," Bruce quipped, dead panning.
Tony smirked. "Yeah, some valentine you are," he teased back. "Just for that, no romantic night on the town for you."
"Well, shucks. And I brought my best dress and everything," Bruce joked back.
Tony chuckled and smiled, realizing how good it felt to laugh again.
XxXxXxXxXx
The men arrived at Cedars-Sinai, and were greeted in Pepper's new room by her mother. From the looks of it, Pepper had been successfully settled in. "How did she do? Did they say the trip went okay?" Tony asked Marilynn.
"Fine, everything was fine," she assured, hugging him upon his arrival. Tony presented her the bouquet of lilies, and she gasped, instantly tearing up. "My Lord, they're pretty," she said. "What a lovely thing to do."
"Considering the week we've had, I figured you could use a valentine," he said, shrugging impishly with a bashful smile.
Marilynn's eyes went wide. "Valentine? Is it Valentine's Day already?" she gasped. She turned to look at her daughter, lying unconscious in her hospital bed, and then back at her son-in-law sorrowfully. "Oh, I am so sorry you two have had to spend your first one together this way, darlin'," she said, her eyes filling with new tears.
Tony smiled softly, trying to keep tears from welling in his eyes as well. He pursed his lips, and cleared his throat. "Me, too," he whispered sincerely as he shifted his eyes to the floor, and then slowly ambled over to Pepper's bedside. Marilynn and Bruce watched him silently as he gingerly set the vase of roses down on her nightstand and looked at her longingly for a moment before taking her hand in his and laying a lingering kiss on the back of it. Then he bent over, and brushed her cheek with his other thumb, gazing at her. He leaned in, and kissed her cheek tenderly, closing his eyes, trying to hold back new tears. But his breath caught in his chest, and a soft sob escaped his lips. He rested his forehead against her temple, and whispered in her ear. "Happy Valentine's Day, my love," he said. "Next year, we'll do it right." Another sob left his lips, and he swallowed hard. He nodded assuredly. "I promise," he murmured.
XxXxXxXxXx
Marilynn agreed to stay for a few hours while Tony and Bruce left for SI headquarters to begin their work. And once they'd arrived, Tony led Bruce to the Research and Development Department, where Bruce was instantly enamored with the amount of cutting edge equipment that filled the space, equal in measure to what filled the R and D floors at the Stark Tower in New York. "You never skimp on quality, I'll give you that," he commented, after Tony gave him a quick orientation and he had surveyed the expanse of it all.
"Nothing but the best," Tony explained. "You don't get to be one of the top tech companies in the world by cheapening out."
"No, I suppose not," Bruce agreed, and with that, they both quickly settled in to start the beginning phases of what Tony now believed to be the most important project of his life. He remembered thinking the same thing about the Ultron project he'd started to revive before the wedding, but now that was clearly to be put on hold. There would be no need for Ultron if there was to be no Pepper to protect and build a life with.
For the first few days, they worked on what the ideas they'd come up with would require. On the list, were variations of injected serums, the chemical foundations of formulas for repairing the damaged synapses of Pepper's brain, and Bruce had even suggested the idea of building some type of software that would allow access into Pepper's mind to possibly rebuild her nervous system from the inside out using electrical impulses, a kind of "teacher/trainer" program that would repair and retrain the damaged nerves to function normally again, and cure her blindness and her brain damage, though he thought this to be the most improbable of all of their ideas. Still, Tony wanted nothing to be considered impossible. And he frequently made that clear whenever Bruce began to doubt their efforts.
They'd begin in the early morning each day, and stay long into the night. And when they both were too exhausted to carry on, they'd leave HQ and Tony would drive Bruce to his and Pepper's new home and drop him off, and he'd go back to Pepper's condo, and sleep for a few hours before repeating the same cycle the next day. Tony couldn't bring himself to stay with Bruce in that house. Not without Pepper. He wanted his first night spent there to be with her, and he wanted it to be special. But he couldn't see the point of letting it stay vacant, and Bruce staying in a hotel. He wanted his friend to be as comfortable as possible while he was in LA working with him, and since Pepper's condo had only one bedroom, this was the next best solution.
His hesitation to stay in the house without Pepper, however, hadn't stopped him from walking through it that first night, as Bruce got settled in to one of the guest bedrooms. He'd both admired it, and was heartbroken by it, looking at all of the little design touches and flourishes that he and Pepper had picked out so lovingly before their lives had taken such a drastic turn. Each room had turned out to be a perfect combination of both of their tastes- modern with traditional, classic touches, and it amazed him as he walked from room to room, taking it all in. He could almost feel Pepper there with him, and the whole house practically vibrated with her energy and the energy of their love for each other. On that note, he walked to the large stone fireplace in the living room, and looked on the mantle, wanting to confirm that a last minute wish he'd made of the interior designer had been granted. And, much to his delight, he saw that it had.
In two black, wooden frames, sitting dead center on the mantle piece, were two black and white photos of he and Pepper, taken in succession of each other. In the first one, she was in her wedding dress, and he in his tux, her eyes closed, and smiling lovingly in his arms, as he was planting a tender kiss on her cheek. The next photo was the result of his kiss, a warm smile from Pepper as she gazed at him lovingly, and he gazed at her in adoration. These were in the collection that Nick had taken at their wedding, and Tony had grown quite fond of them. He felt they perfectly encapsulated the love they felt for each other, and he'd decided he wanted them on display for them to see everyday.
He took his phone out of his pocket, and stood back, centering the photos on his screen, and quickly clicking a picture. He didn't really know why he felt compelled to do this. He supposed it was just because they gave him a certain reassurance and comfort to look at. And, these days, he would take whatever he could get in that department.
Tony had made sure Bruce had everything he needed, and wished him a good night before heading to the front door to leave. But he had paused for a moment, letting his eyes drift upstairs to the only room he'd avoided during his time there. It was the room he'd added not long after they'd found out Pepper was pregnant- the nursery- and he stared long and hard at the closed door. He knew this was the only room that had been excluded from the Valentine's Day deadline, since Pepper wanted to wait to decorate it until after they'd found out the sex of the baby, and she'd returned from the conference in San Francisco. And because of that, the room sat empty now, feeling much like the void created in their lives from the absence of the child they'd so expected to happily occupy it.
He looked away, and closed his eyes, the sharp pang in his heart reminding him that tonight it wasn't he and Pepper officially beginning their new lives in their new house, and making plans for their new baby as they'd hoped to be doing, but Bruce staying in it alone, here to help Tony hang on to what semblance of life he hoped they could bring back to her. Tony exhaled sharply, and gritted his teeth in defense. He yanked open the front door, then quickly closed it behind him. "Focus," he murmured sternly as he walked briskly to his car. "You've gotta stop doing this to yourself." He piled into the driver's seat, slammed the door, and punched the ignition button. The engine roared to life, and Tony sped out of the driveway and off into the night, resolving that the time for grief and regret was over. Now it was time to looked forward to the future and fight back against what fate had allowed. Pepper needed him to fix her. They both needed him to fix her. There was no room to fail. Failure meant certain death. Not just for her, he knew, as she'd spend the rest of her life in a coma, but also because he couldn't and wouldn't live without her. He refused. So, with iron-clad resolve, he vowed that if all attempts were proven futile, and there was no way to bring Pepper back from this, he'd put an end to his own life as well. It wouldn't be fair to go on living while she wastes away in a hospital bed, he thought. Not to her. And not to me. He'd pull the plug and send her peacefully off into the unknown, and then he'd quickly join her. And that would be the end. At least they'd be together, then. And at least they wouldn't have to suffer anymore.