A/N: Oh, don't mind me. Just posting a new chapter. Enjoy!
Doubts were always the enemy. Stephen was a doctor, knew every decision he made could be what extended or reduced someone's life. So when he made a decision, he couldn't doubt it, he couldn't question whether he was right or wrong, because it had to be right.
Right now Stephen stood, a knot twisting in his stomach that he was most certainly sure was doubt. Five minutes had passed, and the only eyes on him were of Wong's and soon the man's silence was unbearable.
"If you're going to just stand there and say nothing, then-"
"Why are you still here?" Wong asked the man and Stephen whipped his head around. "You and I both know she couldn't make it this long. Why haven't you went to bring her back?"
"Because!" Stephen turned away from the man trying to hide the fact that he'd been thinking the same thing. "She can do this. I know she can."
"If she hasn't frozen to death." Wong replied with a shake of his head. He turned, and lifted his hand. Stephen turned to him with a furrowed brow as he watched Wong opening a gateway back to Mount Everest. He rushed over, just as the man stepped through and Stephen quickly followed behind him. Both men stood on top of that mountain, their eyes scanning around, both confused why they were only one's there. Wong whipped his head around to Stephen who was still searching for any sign of the woman. Soon he walked over to the edge and peer down, that knotting in his stomach now twisting and making it hard for him to breathe.
"She-" Stephen shook his head, before looking over to Wong. "She's not-" Wong turned away from the man, and stepped back through the gateway. Stephen remained a bit longer before turning and stepping through as well. Wong didn't wait for him, didn't stay so they could discuss what they should do. He turned and watched the gateway closing, and he stood there not moving. "She's not dead." he narrowed his eyes before rushing out of there in search of Wong. There had to be something in one of the man's books that could help him.
Stephen was about to skip up the stairs when the sudden sound of the doorbell ringing stopped him. He turned a frown to the door. They didn't get many visitors except for the occasional lost traveler, or girl scout trying to sell cookies. Stephen sighed, because he remembers Wong's obsession with getting descriptions of all the cookies the child had to offer. He just hopes she wasn't back.
Stephen pulled open the door, and stared in confusion at the teenage boy who stood with a nervous smile.
"You're not a boy scout are you, because I thought there was an age limit or something."
"Uh, no, I'm Peter and I thought-" Peter glanced behind Stephen who moved slightly to block the boys view. "I thought someone I knew was here." he frowned turning back to Stephen about to turn away, but he stopped himself. He cleared his throat, and leaned in a bit. "Is she here?" Stephen looked down to the boy like he was insane. "Katie, I could've sworn this is where I saw her go." Stephen still didn't say a word, and that only made Peter more nervous. Katie after all was kind of a wanted criminal, and given his luck he was probably unknowingly leading to her capture. He shook his head and took a step back. "I mean, never mind, forget about it." he turned and skipped down the stairs, and Stephen stood there for a moment before finally closing the door.
Tony Stark stood in his lab, staring at one of his Iron Man suits as he rubbed his chin in thought. He lifted his head and turned at the sound of the doors sliding open, and he lift his eyes to the second level where Matthew walked over, peering down to him from the balcony.
"I thought you got lost." Tony said, and Matthew huffed with a shake of his head before heading over to the stairs.
"Well I did, but I met this cute cadet-"
"Say no more." Tony says turning back to the suit. Matthew walked over and stood beside him, looking at the suit as well. He frowned slightly when he noticed something.
"Why doesn't this suit look as shiny as your others?" he asked, and Tony shook his head. "Is this one of the first ones?"
"It's an early model. I've had it for a while. Basing the code and designs of my other suits from this one, but I've never actually used it." Tony took a step back, and both men watched as it lowered into the storage chamber underneath the lab. He turned and walked back over to one of his computers, and Matthew glanced over to him with a quirked brow.
"Why not? Is it not functioning?"
"Yes, it functions completely as it was designed to." the man kept his eyes on the holo-computer and Matthew knew he was attempting to end the conversation. "So how long are you in town for?"
"I uh, I report to the New York office. I have house just outside of the city." Matthew replied, and Tony stopped and looked over to him. "What?"
"You have a house outside of the city?" Tony chuckled with a shake of his head. "I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that you were this big deal CIA agent, that quit, moved into your parents basement and then became my assistant, and now you're a big deal CIA agent again."
"I'm not really a big deal." Matthew replied with a shrug of his shoulders as he walked over to stand beside the man. "I was supposed to be let go after losing Rinny, but they kept me around in hopes I would lead them to her. I had to be creative with losing them when I-" Matthew stopped, and Tony looked over to him in confusion, when he shook his head. He probably shouldn't mention his meetings with his sister. "Never mind. Uh, so when's the wedding?"
"Do you plan on coming?" Tony asked and Matthew shrugged.
"Honestly?" Matthew laughed before turning and looking around the massive lab. "It's still weird." he turned back to Tony and sighed. "Things aren't the same since that day at the airport."
"Tell me about it." Tony muttered with a shake of his head, but he turned to Matthew and placed hand on his shoulder. "But you're coming. We've gotten over our differences, and we're friends again, and as my friend I fully expect you to get ridiculously drunk at my wedding, and hit on all the bridesmaids." Matthew turned away in thought, the idea not completely horrible.
"I mean, when you say it like that-" he turned back to Tony with a nod. "I'm totally there."
"Good. Tony Stark is off the market, and someone is needed to keep my legacy alive and well, and until Pepper and I have little Pepperonis, that person is you."
"I feel honored and scared."
"As you should, my friend, as you should."
Matthew turned, once again going about snooping around the lab. He scratched the back of his neck, before glancing over to Tony, deciding now would be a good time to ask the question he'd been impatiently waiting to ask.
"Uh, so you wouldn't by chance have a way to get in contact with the Spider Ninja, would you?" Tony stopped typing and turned to Matthew with a furrowed brow. "I just need to have a conversation with her."
"About?"
"A boat." Matthew lied, and Tony saw through it, and turned to him fully. "I'm sorry Tony, but that's all you're getting out of me. You keep the mystery of your little Iron Man suit, and I'll keep the secret of my boat." Tony still continued to stare. "Do you know how to contact her?"
"I don't. She's in the wind." Matthew simply gave a nod before turning and nudging his head to the door.
"I think I will see if I can find that cadet again." Matthew turned about to leave, when Tony's words stopped him.
"Your sister worked on that suit." Tony said turning away as Matthew stopped and looked back over to him. "She really wasn't into the whole construction process. I mean she was good, I knew it and so did she. But she excelled in the code." Tony glanced back over to Matthew who stood just listening. "You see once upon a time I enticed your sister to work for me-"
"Blackmailed, she told me the story."
"Well she told it wrong. I enticed her to work for me, and I was showing her the suits, and she stopped on this one." Tony turned, typing a few keys, letting the suit back up from it storage unit, and walking over to it. "For an entire day she focused on nothing but this suit. I thought she was just fangirling over it's awesomness-" a smile curled at Tony's lips, and he glanced over to Matthew who appeared beside him. "I thought I had impressed her. In reality she was looking at this suit, and seeing what it could be, what it could do." Tony shook his head. "I remember watching her work on this. How she would turn her head, and get this far away look on her face, before suddenly smiling. That was her with a puzzle suddenly appearing in her brain, and her mapping out how to fit the pieces together." Tony turned back to the old suit and sighed. "This suit is functional. It does what it's designed to do with a few added amenities courtesy of my kitten. But she told me it's not finished." Tony pressed a button on his watch and the suit once again lowered. "She has to finish it." Tony turned back to Matthew who looked over to him and sighed. "So boat is code name for..."
"Clinton Barton." Matthew replied folding his arms over his chest. "I figure if anyone would know where he was, it would be his old partner in crime."
"And you want to find him because.."
"Oh, I'm going to kill him." Matthew said simply. Tony looked at him for a moment before giving a nod.
"Well that's going to be a problem." Tony replied before typing something on his watch, and both men turned to a holo-screen that appeared in front of them. It was an image of a giant map, a picture of Clint in the top left hand side of the screen as some sort of massive facial recon search seemed to be happening. "You see I'm looking for him too. And I'm pretty sure when I find him, I'm going to be the one to kill him."
Stephen stood surrounded by books, each and everyone pointless to solving his problem. He lifted his eyes over to the door wondering why he hadn't seen Wong since he stormed away from him. Stephen stepped over the books and headed out into the hall, his eyes glancing around for the man.
"You know giving me the silent treatment won't fix this!" Stephen called as he headed down the hall. "She's not dead. I know she's not dead." his voice was full of hope, but lacked certainty at the same time. "She can't be dead." the last words were muttered to himself as he once again let the fear of them wash off of him. "Wong, will you just-" Stephen stopped walking, his eyes glancing over to a painting on the wall. A painting he's sure he'd just past a couple of steps prior. Now he knew the sanctum had it's own tricks and secrets, and so he wasn't sure if he'd actually stumbled on one or not. There was a sudden silhouette at the end of the hall that Stephen's eyes caught and lost in what seemed like mere seconds. He wasn't even sure he'd actually saw it, but there was a slight twinge. He felt something. He lifted his hand, and suddenly his cloak was wrapped around him in seconds as he began walking.
There hadn't been an infiltration of the Sanctum since Kaecilius, but he knew there were always others who would try. It wasn't until he happened upon a room, did he hear the unexpected sound of ragged breathing. He stopped and cautiously pushed opened the door, his eyes going wide at the sight of Katie lying curled up on the floor violently shivering. He took a step forward about to grab the cloak, but the cape flew off on it's own, wrapping itself around the woman. Stephen lifted his head, and with a wave of his hand, a fire blazed in the fireplace. He dropped his eyes back to her, and took another step.
"Don't...come...near...me." her words barely spoken through her shivering.
"Katherine, I'm sorry. I truly believed-" he took another step, and in a blink of an eye she was gone. His eyes widened as he searched the room. "Son of a bitch!" he turned and ran in search of Wong who he hoped had a book that could help him right about now.
Pepper Potts was exhausted. She'd been in meetings all day, followed by wedding planning with her mother. She let out a sigh of relief the moment she stepped inside the penthouse. She kicked off her shoes, and tossed her keys into the bowl next to the door. She'd been daydreaming about a nice hot bath all day, and so she headed off toward the bathroom. She stopped when she heard a noise from somewhere. She glanced over her shoulder with a furrowed brow. She'd just spoken to Tony before arriving, and he and Matt were still in his lab. No one was supposed to be here.
"FRIDAY." Pepper whispered as she turned around and began walking. "Call Tony, tell himI think some one is in the house, and then call the police." she knew that should've gone the other way around, but she always figured Tony would have a plan for such a case as this one. Maybe some sort of device, or a bot that could swoop in and save the day.
"I'm sorry Ms. Potts, I can't do that." the accented voice of the AI replied, and Pepper glanced up in confusion. "You shouldn't be alarmed."
"Well I'm very alarmed right now FRIDAY because someone is in my home and has already hacked you." Pepper turned grabbing her phone deciding to call the police herself, but the moment she picked it up, it suddenly powered off. "FRIDAY, did you do that?"
"I did, and there is a reason."
FRIDAY instructed Pepper to go to the den, and at first Pepper refused assuming this was some kind of trap. But then she realized the damn AI controlled practically everything in the house so there was no way she was getting out of here. She needed to figure out what was going on, and so she headed down the hall.
Metaphorical alarm bells rang in Pepper's head as she began to feel heat. There shouldn't be heat blowing anywhere in here when the summer heat was blazing outside. She stopped outside the door that lead to the den, and she hesitated for a moment unsure if she should even proceed.
"Ms. Potts, you're truly not in any danger."
"Well it feels like I am, I'm being held against my will, I'm unable to call for help. I thought Tony made you impenetrable against hackers."
"He did."
"Then who the hell-" The answer popped into her head before she could even ask the question. Pepper's eyes widen, before she looked back to the door, now suddenly nervous that moment she'd been dreading was about to happen.
"Ms. Potts, you need to go inside." Pepper lifted her head, not missing the urgency in the AI's voice. She reached for the handle, and pushed opened the door. Of all the things she expected to see on the other side of that door was Katie lying on the floor her body shaking uncontrollably in front of the fire place.
For a moment Pepper stood frozen. The moment seemed surreal and so unexpected that a next move didn't suddenly come to her. The next moment was the moment she realized that this was really happening. She quickly grabbed a blanket from the closet and ran over, wrapping it around the woman, whose eyes seemed to be tightened shut. Pepper noticed the light shade of blue her skin was and she shook her head.
"FRIDAY call 911."
"I'm sorry Ms. Potts, I can't"
"Why the hell not?!" Pepper asked, dropping completely to the floor and pulling Katie into her arms, trying to create as much warmth as she could. "FRIDAY!" the AI didn't speak, and Pepper didn't know what to do except hold the woman in her arms and try to get her warm.
Tony and Matthew were huddled together, their eyes on something when Peter walked into the lab. He let out a sigh of relief, seriously not believing he actually found the lab after wandering aimlessly for a half an hour.
Neither man seemed to be aware of the teenager's presence, and so he walked closer.
"She has to know where he is." Matthew said to Tony. "They were partners for ever, if he wants to disappear then she's the one who would know. You should call her, and leave out the part where we plan on killing him."
"I told you, I don't have her-" Tony's eyes turned, finally spotting Peter who seemed to be staring with wide eyes. Matthew looked over to the man with a furrowed brow before turning as well.
"It's the spider kid." Matthew said with a smile. "How much of our conversation did you hear?"
"Uh, not-" Peter cleared his throat and shrugged. "Like nothing at all really."
"So all of it?" Tony asked and Peter turned and sighed.
"Just the parts about the two of you killing someone-" Peter took a step forward looking between the two men. "And I can totally pretend that I didn't hear anything." Tony opened his mouth to respond, but Matthew placed a hand on his arm to stop him.
"So you're willing to be an accessory to murder, kid?" Matthew asked and Peter suddenly looked nervous. "Because that's what you'll be. And I know you've gotten close to this guy, probably think he's some big shot superhero or something." Tony turned a glare to the man. "You probably even think of him as some sort of mentor or something." Matthew turned to Tony, a smirk on his face. "So would you really want to sign up for throwing your whole life away for this guy?" he glanced back over to Peter, and saw the kid seeming to think it over. Tony shook his head, before turning back to Peter and sighed.
"I mean-"
"No." Tony said and Peter met his eyes. "He was joking, but the answer to his question better be no." Peter simply gave a nod with a slight chuckle.
"Right, I knew it was a joke." he said glancing over to Matthew. "It was a good one. Walking in on a murder plot." he chuckled again turning back to Tony. "That's just crazy." Matthew and Tony shared a look before turning back to the teen.
"What are you doing here, Pete?" Tony asked walking over to the boy. "I didn't give you that kick as suit so you could laze around. Isn't there a kitten in a tree waiting for you to save him."
"Mr. Stark-"
"I hold no hard feelings to you turning down my offer to join the team. I respect your decision to remain the friendly neighborhood Spiderman." Tony gave a shrug, before looking back over to Matthew who turned his attention to his phone. "What's up?" Tony turned back to Peter who suddenly looked nervous.
"Well I uh-" Peter turned to Tony, and let out a nervous breath. He told himself that he'd keep Katie's secret and wouldn't tell a soul that he saw her, but he knows he saw her go into that house. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "You see-"
"I have an idea." Matthew suddenly said, and Tony turned to him with a quirked brow. "Mason."
"Rick Mason?" Tony asked and Matthew nodded with a bright smile. "You think Mason knows where Barton is?"
"No, I think Mason knows where the spider ninja is, and she's our ticket to operation black hawk down." Tony looked over to the man with a furrowed brow. "I just thought a code name would be cool."
"Can you contact Mason?"
"Yeah," Matthew lifted his phone about to dial, but stopped with a frown. "Wait that's a dumbass idea. Mason is still Fury's puppy, and getting him involved just gets more attention then Rinny needs right now." Matthew dropped the phone and looked over to Peter who seemed completely lost.
"Wait, who's Spider ninja?" Peter asked turning to Tony who simply gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"Sorry kid, we're having adult time." he lifted his head, realizing how weird that sounded out loud. "I mean, we're having men time." he looked over to Matthew who just shook his head.
"The truth, we're looking for someone and at this point we don't know what we're going to do when we find him, and it would just be better for everyone if you weren't apart of it." Peter looked over to him, before turning to Tony.
"Hey Pete, we can catch up later, now's just not a good time." Peter just smiled, giving a nod before turning and heading up the few steps toward the door. He stopped before leaving, glancing back to once again see the men huddle in a secret conversation. Maybe he was once again overreacting, maybe she was fine. Peter let out another deep sigh, before turning and leaving, hoping that keeping tight lipped was the right decision
Pepper knew Tony would probably be coming home late. Now that he and Matthew were friends again, she's sure the pair would be finding trouble somewhere. About an hour after finding a practically frozen Katherine Barton, the woman now lay on the couch in front of the fire place, color finally returning to her skin. Pepper had changed into a tank top and shorts to bare the heat, but it was pointless, she was still sweating. She sat at the other end of the couch, her eyes glancing over to Katie, and she couldn't believe she was lying right here. She suddenly realized how years had gone by since they'd seen each other, or even had a conversation.
A groan escaped Katie's lips, and her eyes flit opened, and the moment they did, confusion washed over her face. Her eyes looked over to the fireplace, and then to the blankets wrapped around her, and then her eyes widened as she looked over to the woman sitting across from her.
"Pepper?" Katie looked around the room, not sure where she was or how she got here.
"How do you feel?" Pepper asked, and Katie turned back to the woman in confusion, before shaking her head.
"I shouldn't be here." Katie turned standing to her feet, only to realize one of the blankets was still wrapped around her. She lifted her head now noticing it wasn't a blanket. "What the hell are you doing here?" Pepper looked up to the woman in confusion as she saw her speaking to the weird cape thing she was wearing.
"Katie-"
Suddenly once again aware where she was, Katie began searching for a way out.
"What happened to you?" Pepper asked standing to her feet, and Katie looked over to her with a shake of her head. "You look like you were almost frozen to death."
"I was." Katie muttered. "Look thanks for your help Pepper, really, but I really have to get out of here." she turned about to head out the door, when the sudden sound of the front door opening and closing sounded.
"Pepper, you home?!"
Both women shared a look at the sound of Tony's voice. Katie shook her head to Pepper.
"He can't know I'm here." Katie whispered, and for some reason Pepper didn't expect the words. "Look I don't know why I'm here, but if I were in my right mind when it happened, I wouldn't. I don't want to mess this up for you guys." they heard nearing foot steps and Katie scurried away from the door, over to the window. They were a couple of feet from the ground, so jumping was just another word for suicide. She turned back around to Pepper who still seemed in shock by the woman's words. Suddenly the door opened, and Pepper turned to see Tony whose eyes went from the woman to the blazing fireplace.
"Why do you have a fire going when it's like a thousand degrees outside?" Tony asked looking back over to the woman. Pepper's eyes turned back to the window, surprised that Katie wasn't there. "Pep?" she silently turned back to the man, and Tony could see the lines in her forehead scrunching in confusion. He walked over to her, bringing his arms around her. "Pepper, are you ok?" she lifted her eyes to the man and suddenly pulled a smile.
"Yeah, I uh-" she looked over to the fireplace. "I was cold." she turned back to the man who was still looking at her in confusion. "And now I'm not. FRIDAY, could you-" the fireplace suddenly turned off, and the central air began breezing in. Pepper turned back to Tony, placing her hands on the sides of his face and placing a kiss to his lips. "I should change." she moved around the man out of the room.
Tony stood there for a moment still in a slight state of confusion. He glanced around the room, hoping to find some sort of evidence to explain his fiance's strangeness, but there was nothing. He shook his head before turning and leaving the rooming as well, closing the door behind him in hopes of stopping the heat from the room from spreading.
The moment the couple was out of the room, Katie let out a deep breath. The cloak had hidden her and she didn't even realize it until a few moments after Tony walked into the room and didn't instantly lose his shit at the sight of her. It took a lot for her to be that close to him, and not even say a word. She slid her hands through her hair, and let out another deep breath.
Her eyes lifted, and she focused completely on one thing, and soon she stood in the Sanctum's library in time to see Stephen yelling at Wong.
"If you say I told you so, one more time, I swear-" Stephen caught sight of the woman and immediately stopped and turned to her. "Katherine, you-"
"I'm not dead." she grit through her teeth and she stalked toward him. "You left me on Mount Everest. Told me pull myself out of guilt and sadness, and only then would I be able to be free." she punched him in the shoulder. "I stood there freezing my ass off, because you decided you wanted to teach me a lesson." she hit him again, and he let out a grunt, but didn't back away. "I could've died you stupid idiot!" she waited for him to say something, but he simply cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest before looking over to Wong with a cocky smile. Wong simply rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. Katie let out a growl before once again punching his arm.
"Hey, will you stop doing that." he said turning back to her. "I completely understand why you're upset, and in my defense I really did expect you escape sooner than you did, but I knew you would." he smiled proudly and Katie just punched him again. "Hey, would you-" the woman shook her head before turning around and stalking for the door. "Katherine, I'm sorry." she kept walking and he let out a deep sigh, before taking a step forward. "Don't leave." she stopped but didn't turn to him. "I know you're angry and you have every right to be, and I know what I did was rash, even though the same thing was done to me-" Wong nudged his shoulder to remind the man to stay on point. "You're special! How? I'm not completely sure, but I know you are." she finally turned to the man. "I believe you do too. Look you feel something is coming, something bad, and bigger than anything you've ever come across." he walked over, and placed himself right in front of her. "If we can even dream of beating this thing, then we're going to need you to be bigger as well." she turned away from him. "I know this isn't the path you saw yourself going, but-"
"You're my compass." she said turning back to him. "I may not want to go down this path, I may want to run as far away from it as I can, and hide in a dark hole, but I can't. I have to see this through, and that means I have to put up with you for a little while longer." a smile came to the man's face, and Katie just reached forward and punched his shoulder before turning about to head to her room. She suddenly stopped, and glanced down to the cloak still securely on her shoulders. "Thanks, you can go back to your owner." the cloak flew from her shoulders, to Stephen's who looked up back to the woman who was already leaving. He stepped out to the hall, and watched the woman who suddenly once again blinked away, and a smile curled up on his lips. There was a tap on his shoulder, and when he turned his eyes widen at the sight of Katie stand there, with a smile on her face before once again punching him in the shoulder..
"Will you stop hitting me, and you're welcome." he spun on his heel, and walked out of the room, and Katie shook her head before stalking after him. "Training will commence first thing in the morning as usual."
"Don't even get a day off after almost dying?"
"No, but I'll let you choose what we train on." he replied and Katie watched with a shake of her head, before turning back to Wong.
"So we need to make sure tomorrow is the worse day of his life. Any ideas?" Wong turned away in thought, before a smile crept on his lips. "I like that look Wong."
Pepper Potts was confused. The events of the day were playing over and over again, and she couldn't quite explain just how unexpected it all seemed. She always imagined Katie's arrival being this big production where she swoops in and steals all of Tony's attention, leaving Pepper to resort to the jealous crazed fiance.
Pepper stood on the balcony, her eyes looking over the beautiful cityscape.
"You know I think this place has finally gotten back to a normal temperature." Tony says, his arms wrapping around the woman from behind.
"I told you, I was cold." Pepper once again explained...lied. She bit the corner of her lip, once again thinking on Katie's plea to not tell Tony that she was here, how she didn't want to mess up anything .Pepper didn't expect that. Actually it went against everything she thought of the woman. Tony placed a kiss to Pepper's shoulder and the woman leaned her head back to his shoulder. "Tony, can I ask you something?"
"Matthew and I didn't break any laws." he responded. "Not today. I mean there was some definite plotting going on, but it's just in the planning stages now."
"The crime you two plan on committing?" Pepper asked tilting her head to meet his eyes. She simply shook her head before turning back to the bright city lights. "Actually don't answer that. I don't think I could be an accessory to whatever you two are up to." she let out a sigh, her hands sliding across his. "No, I was curious. The last time you saw Katie, she gave you a flash drive that would could keep even her from accessing your systems." Tony didn't say anything, unsure where this was going. "Did you install it?" she turned in the man's arms, now meeting the confusion in his eyes
"Where-" he shook his head. "What is this about?" Pepper looked at him for a moment, realizing that this was the moment she could just tell him the truth, about everything that happened while he was gone. She dropped her eyes, because even after everything, all of his promises and declarations of love, a part of her is still afraid to open that can of worms that is Katherine Barton. The moment she tells him that she was here, she has no doubt he'll probably try to search the city for her, or try to contact her. She lifts her eyes back to the man and places a hand on his cheek. "Pepper, what's going on?"
"Tony nothing's going on, I told you I was curious. It just popped into my head earlier today, and I thought I would just ask you." her hand slid to his chest, dropping her eyes once again. "I'm going to go to bed." she placed a kiss to his lips and moved around him back to the bedroom.
"I didn't." he said suddenly and she stopped. He turned seeing the woman who kept her back to him. "She titled it Rice Pudding of all things. She knows I hate Rice Pudding." Pepper let out a deep breath before turning back to the man. "I was upset with her, and I hated her, but-" he shook his head. "It just didn't seem right."
"Because removing her ability to hack you meant she was truly gone, and you didn't want that."
"No, I didn't." Tony decided if he really was going to spend the rest of his life with this woman, then he was going to be completely honest with her. "A very small part of me hoped that one day I would get my friend back." Pepper didn't say anything, not because she was speechless. There were quite a few things she could say in this moment, and soon she settled on one.
"Well if there is anything I have learned from all the years of being with you Tony, it's that there is nothing that can keep the two of you apart." she walked over bringing her arms around him with a smile. She was going to be supportive. She was not going to be jealous, because this man in front of her loved her, and would only love her. And she knew she had to believe that, knew she had to trust it because it was the only way their marriage would last. Pepper dropped her head and took a deep breath before she realized what else she needed to do. She lifted her eyes back to Tony.
"Tony, there's something I have to tell you." Pepper Potts was going to tell the truth. The ugly, scary truth that she couldn't keep from the man she's going to spend the rest of her life with. She had to believe their love could stand anything. "I lied about earlier. I wasn't cold."
A/N: Well I hope you're all still out there...hope these sporadic updates still excite you. I am still working on this story, it's just taking a lot for me to get the ole plot bunnies running again. I'll get it together, don't worry.