CHAPTER 4:

WHERE MY HEART BELONGS

Pepper noticed that the middle of the room was becoming blurry, she stared at the sight before her

confused and she became even more confused when the spot started to swirl and change colors. The

swirl became bigger and bigger, Pepper began to worried. She ran out the room to call for help but she

noticed that when she called for help no one moved. She tapped on Tony, Maya and even alternate

universe her arm but no response. She came to the conclusion that they were paused, she was going to

leave but she didn't wanna lose Tony. Pepper paced back and forth in the living room, she paced to the

door and then to the dining over and over again. She began biting her nails, contemplating on what to

do next..."what to do next"she said to herself trying to not have a panic attack. Out of nowhere

appeared a man with a smile on his face looking at Pepper. He walked towards her and Pepper backed

up quickly trying to avoid whatever he had planned. She tried to think of an exit strategy that helped

her escape without leaving anyone vulnerable. She couldn't think of an outcome where that would

work. She was either going to get him or he was going to get her, there was nothing else that she could

do.

Man: (the guy held his hands up and said): I'm not here to hurt you

Pepper: then what are you doing here? Why would you just show up like this?

Man: someone made a mistake.

Pepper: and what does that have to do with me?

Man: someone put you here by mistake, I'm here to take you back.

Pepper: I'm not going anywhere with you, I don't know you and I don't trust you.

Man: i'm here to give you what you want.

Pepper: well, I don't want it from you

Man: why do you suddenly wanna stay now?

Pepper: I can't leave! This is my home

man: were in an alternate universe, this isn't your home!

pepper: tony is my home! If his here then I'm not going anywhere! Tony needs me, I can feel it.

Man: you mean you miss him, there's a differences.

Pepper: no! I mean he needs me, I was sent here for a reason and after what Tony just said, I know I was sent here for him. I know I was sent here for a reason. I'm not leaving!

Man: I wasn't asking you! If you really wanna make this difficult, I can make this very difficult!

Pepper: you need to leave!

Man: your coming with me whether you like it or not.

The guy opens his portal and pepper runs, the guy swings his hands around and closes the door. Pepper falls to the ground, her heart beating fast and eyes wide open.

Out of the portal is Doctor strange, he waves his hands around and chains wrapped around his body. He waves his hands around again and Strange throws the man into a portal.

Doctor Strange: I'm sorry about him, I'll handle it.

Pepper: wait! You brought me here? Why?

Doctor Strange: you have to figure that on your own but you'll see.

Pepper: strange!

Doctor Strange: yes ms. Potts?

Pepper: thank you.

Doctor strange: (smiles) enjoy your time here, it dictates whether you stay or not.

Pepper: what?! (she says as Doctor Strange slips into the portal, not hearing the last words Pepper said.) son of a (she mumbles underneath her breathe)

Pepper notices that things start moving again and she has a mysterious smile on her face. She knew she

was right, she knew she was here for a reason and Doctor Strange just confirmed that, she didn't know

what she had to do but from now on she would trust her gut. Pepper sat in the bed and pondered what

Tony needed help with. Could Tony, her past self, Rhodey and happy... oh yeah and Maya be in

danger or was it just Tony? In her world... an d a lot of other he ro movies, they would always go for

the loved ones of the hero. They were always so predictable, I mean come on! Can they be anymore

obvious!

They se riously need to get another strategy. Anyw ay, it felt good to have a purpose and to

finally be able to help Tony but let's not get I nto that. Of course, my mind does wonder with those

though ts, of watching the only man I truly l ie there and die and I couldn't do anything about it. I can

never help him when his in danger or hurt, I see him afterwards when his bleeding and broken, I see

him when his smiling through a facade and lying about being ok. I deal with the aftermath of pain,

sorrow and neglect and I try my best to repair him and touch up his wounds but that isn't enough. He

needs more then medicine and band aids and love. He needs something to heal his souls, something

that was broken long before any of us came along. Because everything else is just an added layer of

pain. Now! Now! She could help him but she didn't know where to start, I guess that's something for

another day.

Her head hit the pilow and she fell fast asleep, a few hours later she was woken up by the sound of the creaking of the door. She woke up feeling grogy and everything was blurry, she wiped her eyes by running a hand over her face. She looked again and it was maya at the end of her bed smiling, she jumped up and Maya giggled.

Maya: sorry to startle you, I just needed to talk to you about something.

Pepper: I really don't wanna talk about it.

Maya: it's not about that, it's about you staying here. I just think that with everything going on...now isn't the best time for you to stay here.

Pepper: what's been going on?

Maya: well, that's kind of personal.

Pepper: well, your the one who brought it up.

Maya: well forgive me if you just showed up in our house.

Pepper: well, tony said I could stay here.

Maya: well, tony is too trusting.

Pepper: no his not. (pepper whispered underneath her breathe)

maya: what?

Pepper: I said his not trusting, it takes him a long time to trust people. Especially when it comes to dating woman, that's why he never dated anyone. That's why he never dated anyone or been with anyone longer than one night.

Maya: let me guess, you were the exception because you saw him ever night and day. Am I right?

Pepper: no, I never thought I was anything special. I was his secretary and nothing else. I cared about my job but I also cared about him because i'm a moral human being. I never tried to get with him but things just changed.

Maya:well. That's just in your world not in mine, you need to go.

Pepper: I don't need to go anywhere because tony said I could stay here.

Maya: well, he changed his mind, he said that you need to leave.

Pepper (rolled her eyes) yeah right

tony walked in the door

Tony: pepe, we need to talk. (Tony sees Maya) I told you I would tell her.

Maya: well, you were taking too long!

Tony: I wanted to be gentle about this.

Maya: well, you were being too gentle.

Pepper: you want me to leave fine! I'll leave! You don't need to be gentle or whatever. You want me gone, I'm gone! Don't worry about me.

Tony: pep!

Pepper storms off and walks off, she stops when she realizes that she has nowhere to go in this world.

She inhales and closes her eyes as flashes of her and tony come rushing at her all at once. From the

first time they met until... well, you know. She struggled to catch her breathe, so she tried harder to

breathe in and out. She held herself together to prevent herself from fainting. She kept walking and

continue walking until she found a place to stop. She stopped when she saw it, the place that Tony

purposed the first time until everything went horribly wrong. She smiled as a tear fell from her eye and

she went inside. She approached the door and turned the knob, she exhaled with her eyes closed and

then she opened them and then proceeded to open the door and walked in. she was approached by a

hostess. She was asking her something but she was daydreaming about her time with Tony. She felt a

tap on her shoulder that woke her up and she snapped out of it. She put on a false smile and apologized

to the hostess. She asked the hostess for a table across from the table that her and tony sat at because

she couldn't sit there. She looked at the menu and order the food she wanted, she didn't really want

anything but she just sat there because it felt like home to her. She stared at that spot, remembering that

day like it was yesterday.

Tony has a huge grin on his face as pepper scans the menu, pepper looks up and sees him staring at her. Pepper looks up confused.

Pepper: what!

Tony: your just so perfect.

Pepper: of couse, I told you I'm not.

Tony: and I told you to stop saying that, you are perfect

pepper: of my gosh!

Tony: (giggles) look in all seriousness

pepper: your being serious, ok now i'm nervous. What's going on?

Tony: stop. I'm trying to to tell you something.

Pepper: ok, I'm sorry. Tell me.

Tony: I have waited my entire life for someone like you and when we met, I realized that I could

never get with someone like you. You were perfect in ever since of the word, it was like you came

striaght from my dreams and I was me. So, I buried those feelings deep down in my mind and I

pursued other ventures. When I came back from the cave, it was like my eyes were wide open for the

first time. I knew then that you were the only one that I wanted to be with, so I spent every second

trying to show you that I was worthy of your love. I know that I haven't proved that to you yet but I

plan on proving that to you for the rest of my life. So, ms. Potts... soon to be mrs. stark (I hope). (Tony

pulled out a ring box, opened it, showed her the ring by placing it under the table and asked her) will

you do me the honors of Marrying me?

Pepper smiled and looked at tony while he stared at her while laughed and he just

smiled anxiously. Before she could say anything, pepper got an alert on his watch signifying that there

was trouble. Pepper looked upse and tony looked at her apologetic before flying off. Peper just sat there

rolling her eyes, not again she said to herself but either way she was planning to say yes. An hour later

pepper got a text from tony that read " MEET ME AT HOME,PLEASE" with a smiling face.