Chapter 22: Pepper Potts II

"Ready for your surprise?" Pepper smiled, carrying her daughter to their living room.

Maria's round eyes stared aimlessly at her face. Not even noticing the stylish entertainment jumper in the center of the room. Her pink fingers touched Pepper's cheeks, holding it there for a moment. Pepper smiled. She may look like Tony with the black curls and dark eyes, but in quiet moments like this, she reminded Pepper of herself.

Pepper carried her to the jumper. "Look? See what mama and dada bought you?" she pointed to the jumper.

Maria followed Pepper's fingers, her eyes terrified, but then mystified by the unknown object. Maria gripped on her mother's arm as Pepper lowered herself beside the jumper.

"You're okay," she promised as she unlatched Maria from her. "Mama's got you. Don't worry."

Maria squirmed as Pepper slowly placed her in the jumper. She didn't cry, but maybe that was because she too afraid to cry. Once Pepper got Maria seated, her daughter's expression changed. Eyebrows quirked as her little hands fumbled over the rings and buttons that surrounded her.

And then, Maria smacked the red button. It lit up. A burst of music played. Maria jumped at the noise, but then she giggled and shrieked with joy, looking right up to Pepper with the biggest smile as she smashed the button again.

Pepper beamed as she watched Maria engage with her new toy, smacking all the buttons and playing with the rings, spinning them in circles. Pepper couldn't wait to show Tony. He would be proud to see that his daughter already learned how to use all the little gadgets. "She's a Stark after all!" Tony would remark, teasing as Pepper imagined she would glare at him for such a comment.

"Um… Pepper?"

Pepper looked over her shoulder. She didn't even hear Happy walk into the apartment. "Happy! Hi there," she said, waving him to enter. "Look at Maria go! She already figured out how everything works."

When Pepper didn't hear Happy respond, she turned back to him. She noticed that he wasn't his normal relaxed state of exhaustion. There was no smile. No

Happy came to her. She didn't even notice Happy's gloomed face right away. She smiled up at him, showing Maria off to him. "Look at her go, Happy!" she exclaimed. "She's already figured out how everything works."

When Happy didn't say anything nor couldn't offer a smile, Pepper's happiness dimmed. Tony did something stupid. Again. "Happy?" she said, coming to her feet. "What happened?"

Happy's face shined. He could barely even look at her, his head tilted downward. "It's Tony," he answered. His hands clenched and unclenched to stop them from shaking. "He's… he's, um…"

Pepper's heartbeat picked up. Happy was never one to struggle to report Tony's mistakes to her. At least, not with this much difficulty like he swallowed a bee that repeatedly stung him in his throat. "Happy? What is it? Is Tony all right?" she looked behind him, half-expecting Tony to waltz in with another black eye or a limp. "Where is he?"

Happy's lips trembled as the words jumbled out of him. "He's been shot."

Peter's heart fell straight to the floor. Happy kept talking, but Pepper's head buzzed. Her feet moved. A walk at first, but then she started to run, forgetting shoes and everything.

She reached the doors, ready to run to find Tony, when she heard a high-pitch squeal behind her. Pepper halted. Her daughter. Maria.

Her daughter laughed as she slapped the buttons some more, unaware of the turbulence around her. So innocent to know that her father was injured. Maybe even dying.

Tears came to her eyes.

Happy was suddenly by her side. "Go! I can watch Maria."

Pepper shook her head. "No… no, Happy… I can't. I can't leave her," she knew she sounded foolish. But she couldn't let Maria out of her sight. She didn't want Maria to be abandoned.

Happy had his hands on her shoulders. "The plane is arriving soon," he instructed. "Pepper—you need to go. I'll protect Maria with my life. You know that. But you gotta go see Tony."

Tony. Tony shot. Without his armor.

"Go!"

Pepper ran out the door, her feet carrying her through the compound. A helicopter flew overheard, coming onto the landing.

Tony!

Pepper sprinted into the hanger. Already, Steve Rogers was there along with Sam Wilson. The doors of the helicopter opened and people got out. Steve and Sam rushed over and helped them unload a stretcher from the helicopter. There was Dr. Cho, scurrying across the landing strip beside a stretcher. She was yelling out orders as another person sat on the stretcher, hands pressed over wounds with blood-soaked fingers.

Pepper recognized the dark hair, chiseled chin covered with facial hair and a ruined three-piece suit where blood splotched the front.

"Tony?" Pepper uttered, almost in denial of her sight.

The stretcher drew closer to them as Dr. Cho and her medical team hurried. Tony had a mask over his face, oxygen pumped into him. "Pressure is dropping!" cried a doctor on Tony's left. "Need vasopressors!"

Steve ran alongside the stretcher. "Come on, Stark!" he urged through his gritted teeth. "Stay with us."

Pepper chased after Tony, calling him over and over again. "Tony! Tony! Tony!"

He didn't respond to her frantic calls. He laid unconscious on the medical stretcher, blood soaking through his undershirt. Steve grabbed her and held her back as the doctors carted Tony away to prep him for surgery. She cried as Captain America closed his arms around her. Pepper buried her face in his chest, sobbing. She couldn't lose Tony. Maria couldn't lose her father.

Don't die. Please don't die on us, Pepper pleaded as she watched her love disappear amongst the throng of doctors and nurses.

Oh, god, please don't die Tony.

Pepper sat across from Dr. Cho.

The good doctor explained all she and her team had done. Pepper tried her best to listen, but it was hard. All she could think about was Maria. And Tony.

Her favorite memory was of waking to Tony cradling Maria, baby-talking to her and saying over and over again how much he loved her. Emotional moments Tony rarely let anyone see. Only a select few like herself, Rhodey, Happy and even Peter.

Pepper bit her nails. She never bit her nails. Not since she was in high school. She didn't stop though.

"Ms. Potts?" Dr. Cho said, drawing Pepper out of her stupor for a second. "I know this is all difficult to comprehend at once."

She had no idea. Pepper brushed her long hair away from her face. "Can I see him?" It was all she wanted to do since he came in from the helicopter.

Dr. Cho nodded, getting up from her chair to escort Pepper. They walked down the hallway. Pepper was sure there was noise buzzing around her, but all she heard was the single, snare beats of her heart.

One beat. Two beats. Three beats.

Pepper passed a few doors. Her breathing got heavier like the air thickened. A pulse throbbed in her neck as she tried not to cry. She couldn't cry. Do not cry!

Dr. Cho stopped at a door. It was quiet inside. "I'll leave you here," she said to Pepper. "If you need me, I'll be down the hall in my office."

Pepper couldn't form a thank you, but she hoped Dr. Cho understood. She was a smart lady. She probably knew.

When the good doctor left, Pepper was alone. She inhaled. Her heart quivered, aching as she remembered the last time she saw Tony. Oxygen mask over his face, blood seeping through his white shirt, and silence. Too much silence from Tony.

Pepper reached for the door and entered. Like all the other medical rooms, it was devoid of beauty. Its walls were a cream color with no decoration to spruce the place. All that was available in the room was a cot, hospital machinery and a few comfortable chairs for guests to sit beside their loved one.

But Pepper didn't take the chair. She went straight to the cot, standing over Tony's still and silent form. So unnatural for him. Pepper observed the last traces of strains within his face, the last lines of feelings he received upon being struck with bullets. They were of shock and pain.

Pepper dropped her chin down. Eyes slammed shut as tears burst from the ducts. Her hands searched for Tony's, finding them colder than normal.

"Tony," Pepper sobbed, dropping over Tony's chest, her ear pressed against his exposed skin to hear anything. "Tony..."

Her pleas were answered with low, mechanical beeps. Same rhythm pattern, but no promises. Pepper raised her gaze up from Tony's chest to his face, waiting for any sign that he heard her. But her fiancé's face remained blank.

Pepper sighed, tears dropping from her cheek and landing on Tony. "I love you."

Later that night, Pepper returned to the apartment she shared with Tony. Happy was there, asking for any news on Tony's condition. Pepper wasn't in the mood to discuss it. All she wanted was her daughter.

Maria was sound asleep in her crib, wearing her little Iron Man pajamas that Tony bought as a joke. They fitted her well and it made Pepper hiccup at seeing her wear them now of all nights.

Pepper stroked Maria's cheeks, her daughter not stirring at all. She had her legs and arms spread out, taking up the most space in her little crib. Like Tony when he flops on the bed, exhausted from a day with politicians and businessmen.

A teardrop fell on Maria's forehead. Pepper wiped her eyes. She hadn't meant to start crying. She didn't want to cry in front of Maria. Didn't want their daughter to be aware of her distraught. But, Maria didn't wake. She didn't even stir.

"Pepper?"

Pepper raised her head to Happy, who once again surprised her by his quiet entrances. "Yeah?"

"Your parents are in New York," he told her. "I sent a car for them. Should be here in an hour."

She didn't remember calling her parents. Did she call her parents? Do they know? They must know if they are in New York.

"Okay," Pepper murmured, not sure what to say to that. "I'm just going to sit here for a while. Stay close."

Happy nodded, but she wasn't sure he understood. He left like the way he came in, silently and secretively.

Pepper carefully carried Maria out of her crib, cradling her baby in her arms. Close to hear heart. She rocked, swaying as a song came to her lips. A lullaby she heard Tony sing to her a few times when he put her to bed.

Young and strong, beautiful one

Embrace all you have ever loved

For one day it may be torn away

'Til then

Lay to rest your head, sweet child

Lay to rest your head for a little while

Maria shifted. Her mouth puckered up in response, but her eyes never peeked open. Pepper wondered if she thought it was her father singing to her. And Pepper wondered if Tony would ever sing again.

Pepper's parents came in the hour Happy predicted. Pepper's mother almost mirrored her own feelings—full anxiety, sorrow and sympathy. Her father's face was blank. Expressionless. Almost like a state of shock.

Her mother rushed right to her. "Oh Virginia, dear," she cooed, patting her long hair.

She said nothing else. All she did was stroke her hair while her father was deep in conversation with Happy, who once again appeared out of thin air.

"Virginia? Sweetie?"

Pepper lifted her gaze to her mother. Her mother smiled. It was small and kind. "How about we put little Maria back in the crib? Your arms must be tired."

Her mother reached for Maria, but Pepper pulled away. She clutched Maria, bringing her child closer and away from her mother. "I'm not tired."

"Virginia—"

"No!" Pepper backed away from her mother, keeping Maria out of reach. "Don't! She needs me."

Everyone stopped. Happy and her father turned to look at her. Her mother, helplessly standing alone as she watched her daughter back away from her. Pepper didn't know what her parents were thinking, but she had an idea. Especially from the way her mother stared, a brutal sense of overwhelming compassion.

"Virginia—I know this is all stressful, but this isn't healthy," her mother said, softly. "You need rest. You need space. You need—"

"I need to be with my daughter!" Pepper shouted or cried. She wasn't sure. "I need to make sure she's okay. That she's not… that she's not… not alone."

That last bit made her burst. She sobbed, hair falling to curtain her face. Her mind swam, drowning in dark thoughts. She stood over a grave, a tombstone revealing the dates of her fiancé's life. Date of birth dash date of death. She saw Maria, grown up, with long, dark hair and eyes that were a replica of Tony's eyes. She wore a white dress, standing in the middle of the room, asking her mother, "Where's my dad?"

Where was he? Somewhere Pepper couldn't reach him.

Arms wrapped around her, a hand cradling the back of her head. "There, there, princess," her father whispered. "I got you. Don't worry."

She didn't even realize Maria was out of her arms. Her mother cooed over her granddaughter, calming the squalling infant. She must have woke up from Pepper's hysteria. Fantastic mother I am, Pepper sarcastically thought.

Her father continued to embrace her until she calmed down. Her mother rocked Maria back to sleep, returning the baby to the crib for the rest of the night. They miraculously got her to sit down again, a blanket over her shoulder and a mug of warm water in her hand. No tea or coffee.

Her father sat beside her, arm comfortably embracing her over the shoulders. "Your mother and I want you to know we'll stay as long as you want us," he pledged. "Help you and Maria."

Pepper wished she could give them some kind of gratitude, but she couldn't. All her thoughts were tangled with Tony, laying on that medical stretcher, oxygen mask over his face and blood covering his torso. The image wouldn't go away. No matter how hard she shut her eyes.

Her father brushed her hair behind her ears. "You need sleep," he said. "It's been a long day."

Only a day? More like centuries for her. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," he countered in his gentle, but firm tone. "Happy's worried about you. So are the others. You being cooped up in here, refusing to let Maria out of your sight—"

"Tony—"

"Would probably be wondering why you are acting like this," her father finished. "It's not the Pepper he knows. It's not the Virginia I know, that's for certain."

Pepper sniffled, thinking of how she felt like a heartbroken teenager rather than an adult. "Dad, he's…"

She can't even say it.

Her father sighed, arm still wrapped around her shoulders. "If you cannot sleep, then I suggest you go back downstairs," he advised. "Go and see him again. It'll make you feel better."

Would it? Pepper kept picturing the blood. All over the place.

"Seeing is believing, so I am told," her father continued. "Don't you worry about little Maria, here. Your mom and I can take care of her. Go on. Go!"

For some reason, her father's words guided her off her feet and to the door. No one was outside their apartment. She took the elevator, requesting FRIDAY to direct her to the medical wing. FRIDAY honored the request and took her straight there without any stops. Pepper breathed, her nerves overacting as she stepped back into the familiar hallway.

She remembered the door Dr. Cho left her. It was the third door on the right. Pepper walked to the door, muttering to herself to not cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

She wasn't doing a great job. She breathed, a bit too raggedy, but it helped control her overwhelming emotions that threatened to engulf her. She got to the door and turned the handle.

The room was the same as last. Tony was still hooked up to the machines, heart steady, but the body so still and grey. Like there was barely any life within him. Pepper saw it clearly with the table lamp on.

Pepper stopped. She didn't turn on the lamp.

But Peter Parker did.

The kid scrunched himself into one of the visiting chairs that he pulled up next to Tony's bed. His eyes were glued to Tony, watching and waiting. He didn't even acknowledge her entrance into the room. Too focused on Tony. On Tony's pale complexion and pained expression.

"Peter?" Pepper whispered, surprised to find the kid in the room at all. She quietly closed the door behind her. "Peter? What are you doing here?"

Peter refused to look at her. "Couldn't sleep," he confessed. "Figured I could keep an eye on Tony. You know… make sure he's doing okay and, um, just looking out for him. Like he does for me sometimes."

And that statement made Pepper's heart swell.

Peter shifted in his chair. "Do you want me to go?"

Pepper shook her head. To be honest, she could use another living being in the room. She moved across the room, taking another chair and pulled it up beside Peter. "Does May know you're down here?"

Peter hesitated before he shrugged. "I didn't tell her, but I think she knows anyway."

She probably did. "You don't have to be here," Pepper said to him, offering him a chance to leave if he wished. "You can go back to your room, if you want."

"That's okay. I'm not tired."

He looked like it. Half-hooded eyes that were rimmed in dried tears and hair in unruly curls, he looked no better off than Tony. The kid kept his body hunched, almost like he was in pain as well.

And then Peter said something that shot through Pepper's heart.

"It's all my fault."

"What?" Pepper asked, doubting that she heard correctly.

Peter lifted his brown eyes to her. They shined bright in the light from his unshed tears. "It's my fault. I know it is," he repeated. "He got shot because of me."

Pepper's breath hitched in her throat, strikingly appalled. "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true!" His voice cracked. Words raw and bleeding with pain. Heartache.

"No, it's not," Pepper reassured him. "It's not true at all."

Tony got shot because he wasn't wearing his suit. That was the reason Tony was in a comatose state. Not because something Peter did. Peter didn't do anything.

Peter, however, refused to believe her words. "He got shot because he stood up to Ross. Because he stood up against the government. The military," he rattled on, hands shaking as he twisted the ends of his sleeves. "All for me. And now… they shot him. They shot him and I wasn't there to… to…" Peter's face creviced, broken lines running along his face. "They shot him, Ms. Potts and none of us were there to help him."

Three times. All in the chest. And all Tony had were his drivers and a single bodyguard. Captain Rogers wasn't there. Rhodey didn't stand beside him. Dr. Banner wasn't looming, threatening to hurt any aggressor. Nat and Clint weren't there to spot the sniper and take him out with an arrow. No one. Tony was alone when he was shot. None of them standing at his side.

Pepper wiped her hands down her face. She thought of Tony, collapsing in pain and dying, surrounded by strangers. How painful it was for him to not be held by people who love him. Who he loved.

She shivered at the thought. But, then she remembered who Tony was. The matured person he grew to become. The man who risked his life so many times to save her. And others.

She wiped a tear away from her eye. "You're wrong, Peter," she said after a long, drawn sigh. "He didn't get shot because of you. He got shot because he stood up for what he believed in."

Peter drew up a brow, but Pepper continued before Peter interjected. "Tony has a lot of faith in you, Peter. Believes you will be the greatest hero of all time," she said with all the gust she could pull through her tired state. "Tony also believes in the Avengers. In his friends and loved ones. And he won't ever stop doing what he thinks is best. Won't stop until he knows they are safe. Trust me, I know. So do the others. And sometimes you want to strangle him for it and sometimes you are filled with love at the dedication he has. But… no matter what you say or do, he will always do what he thinks is best for you, even if you cannot see it that way."

Pepper took a beat, breathing as much as she could. Steady breaths, she reminded herself. Steady. "Anyway, you're wrong, Peter," she mustered to say in a soft voice. Barely above a whisper. "You didn't get him shot. Not in the slightest. Tony has many enemies. People who would threaten us just to get to him. And Tony... well, he would throw himself in front of a bullet for any one of us. Every single time. I know, because I saw him do it for me.

"So, please, Peter," Pepper begged, tears dangerously teetering on her eyelashes, "don't blame yourself. It wasn't you. It was him. Tony being Tony. Never one to sit back and let things happen to other people. To people he cares." Pepper stared at Tony lifeless form. Breathe, she reminded herself. Breathe. "Because Tony would rather he took the bullet than us. That's the man he is. That's the man I fell in love with and you admire."

And that was the real truth behind the tragedy. Tony's complex love for his family and friends led him to those steps and put him in the scope's target. His dedication to keep all those he loves alive and well never ceased to amaze and scare Pepper. The extremities he took like building that army of Iron suits or creating Ultron frightened Pepper and she wanted him to stop. She told him countless times to stop his obsession to save them all. That she and everyone were safe and well.

She never once considered that maybe it was Tony that needed the protection. After all these years, working beside him as Iron Man, she never believed that Tony would be the one who needed the protection. The man with an iron shell around him and here he was, laying half-dead on the medical cot.

Tony was wrong. It was never her that was in danger of dying. It was him. Always him.

Next to her, Peter blinked. A tear fell. "I didn't ask him to do that."

And Pepper understood. She scooted her chair closer and wrapped an arm around him. "I know," she breathed. "No one ever does."

That was the thing though. When one loves deeply, nothing will stop them from doing what's necessary to save the ones they love. Even if it meant their own deaths. Especially that.

Peter took Pepper's embrace, dropping his head against her shoulder. Pepper patted his head, brushing down the curls. "He'll come back," she whispered promises to him or maybe to herself. "'Stark men are made of iron.'"

Peter snorted through his tears and Pepper was grateful for the lightness of it.

A knock drew their attention to the door. It was Dr. Cho.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Ms. Potts," Dr. Cho said, glancing at Peter, uncertain.

Pepper nodded her permission to speak in front of Peter. "He's all right."

Dr. Cho nodded acknowledgment to the granted permission. "I received word from our friends in Africa," she reported, clutching her iPad as she lowered it down to look at Pepper. "They are sending a team over. The Princess believes she may have a way to save Mr. Stark."