Tony sped down the road in a white Audi that was technically Biela's, but it had been at the front of the garage. He stopped by a roadside stand and bought a pound of strawberries, ridiculously overpaying for them, and then continued the drive to Stark Industries. Against the wishes of her secretary, he went up to Pepper's office to apologize. She was on the phone when he came in.
He wandered around the office for a few moments, muting the TV when the newsperson started insulting Pepper, and ended up by a large tarp-covered item. He pulled a corner aside to reveal Howard's model for the 1974 Stark Expo. Pepper was arguing with Bert in Legal.
"Don't tell me we have the best patent lawyers in the country and then not let me pursue this! Look, I'll talk to you later, Hammer's doing a big presentation at the Expo tomorrow night. Will Tony Stark be there?"
"Will I?" Tony asked, pulling up a chair.
"No, he will not," Pepper replied, before hanging up the phone.
"Got a minute?" Tony asked.
"No," she replied.
"C'mon, you just got off a call, you're fine. Thirty seconds." He leaned back in his chair.
"Twenty-nine, twenty-eight," Pepper began.
"Okay, I, um, I was just driving over here, and I thought I was coming to basically apologize, but I'm not."
"Oh, you didn't come here to apologize?" Pepper questioned.
"Look, that goes without saying, and I'm working on that, but I haven't been entirely, uh, up front with you, but I just want to try to make…" his attention was caught by the spinning thing on Pepper's desk. "Can I move this? This is crazy, it looks like a Ferris wheel…"
"No," Pepper said firmly.
Tony moved his chair to the other side of the desk. "Do you know how short life is? And, if I never got to express, and by the way, this is somewhat revelatory to me, and if I don't care, I mean, I care, but it would be nice if I could, no I mean, here's what I'm trying to say, I'm just gonna say it…"
Pepper interrupted him. "Let me just stop you right here, okay. If you say I one more time, I am actually going to hurl something at your head, I think."
Tony tried to mumble an excuse, but Pepper leaned forward.
"I am trying to run a company, do you have any idea what that entails?"
"Yes," Tony said.
"People are relying on you to be Iron Man, and you've disappeared, and all I'm doing is putting out your fires and taking the heat for it."
Tony slipped with the desk ornament he was playing with and it bounced towards Pepper. She caught it and glared at him.
"I am trying to do the job that you were meant to do. Did you think at all the other night? Did you think about Biela, who was right upstairs when you were having your little party? Did you think about your daughter at all during your little hash-fest with Rhodey? Did you remember that there was someone else looking up to you, someone you're supposed to look out for? Do you even know where she is right now?"
"Yes," Tony said, interrupting her rant. "She's at home, sleeping. I checked on her right before I left, and Jarvis is set to notify me as soon as she wakes up."
They glared at each other for a moment, Tony wearily and Pepper with fire.
"Did you bring me strawberries?" Pepper asked.
Tony looked up at her.
"Did you know that there's only one thing on earth that I'm allergic to?"
"Strawberries?" Tony said.
She smiled grimly.
"This is progress, Pepper, I knew there was a correlation between you and this," Tony said.
"I need you…" Pepper began.
"I need you too," Tony said.
"To leave," Pepper finished. "Tony. Now."
They stared at each other a moment, before the door opened and a woman said, "Miss Potts?"
Tony turned around. It was Natalie, with Pepper behind her.
"Hi," Pepper said. "Come on in."
"Wheels up in twenty-five minutes," Natalie said, striding over.
"Thank you," Pepper said.
"Anything else, boss?" Happy asked.
Tony tried to respond when he realized he was talking to Pepper.
Tony held up his hands. "I lost both the kids in the divorce!"
He began to chuckle, but everyone else just rolled their eyes.
"Are you blending in well here, Natalie?" Tony asked.
She turned to look at him, and Tony could see the glare masked in her eyes.
"Here at Stark Enterprises. Your name is Natalie, isn't it?"
She was glaring more openly now.
"I thought you two didn't get along?" he said, gesturing between Natalie and Pepper.
"No, that's not true," Pepper said.
"It's just me you don't care for," Tony assumed.
They were silent as Pepper handed the documents to Natalie and stood up.
"No? Nothing?" Tony asked.
"Actually, while you're here, maybe you and Natalie could discuss the matter of the personal belongings," Pepper said.
"Absolutely," Natalie said.
Tony turned to watch Pepper and Happy leave.
"I'm surprised you can keep your mouth shut," Natasha said.
"Boy, you're good," Tony replied. "You are mind-blowingly good at this, how do you do it? You just tear things out, you're a triple imposter, I've never seen anything like it! Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?"
"Fallaces sunt rerum speces."
"Which means?" Tony asked as she walked away. "What'd you just say?"
She whirled about. "It means you can either drive yourself home, or I can have you collected," she said coldly, before striding out the door.
"You're good!" Tony yelled as she slammed the door shut.
He turned back around and simmered for a moment. He grabbed the spinning thing and stopped it. Tony stood and carried the strawberries over to the door and dumped them in the trash can, before going over and breaking up the 1974 Expo model to put in his car.