Three

"It's hot."

"I know that."

"No you don't. You're not even sweating."

"Of course I'm not sweating. Women don't sweat. Women perspire."

"Ah-ha!"

"I didn't say I was perspiring, either."

"Are we there yet?"

Pepper sighed, rolling her eyes with a smile. "Tony, you're the one that wanted to come here. My goodness, Devin complains less." She looked over at the boy, holding his ice cream cone and standing on his tip toes to peer into the elephant habitat. The zoo was fairly empty and they had made good time. They were halfway through it already. The boy seemed to be having a great time, soaking up everything he saw. He didn't notice when the adults lagged behind. Either that or he was tuning them out. He'd told Pepper he had never been to the zoo before. "So, did Andy's pre-trial go well?"

Tony was relieved the question didn't seem to carry any additional weight. So, Pepper hadn't been lying when she said she was okay with his decision. He ran his hand along the top of the hip-high stone wall that bordered the habitat as he answered. "As well as can be expected. It looks like the prosecutor is willing to negotiate."

She made a sound of understanding, sipping at her soda, her eyes watchful on their temporary charge. They both had noticed that kids were a lot like birds….taking off at any moment and going where the wind took them.

"They said they'll drop some of the charges, but he'll have to take ownership on the kidnapping charge. He may get credit for time served. If it goes really well, he'll be out after a year."

"…how'd he take it?" It sounded like she wasn't sure she wanted to know, but couldn't help asking.

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. I can't imagine anyone being happy about that kind of news." He turned his head, tracking a dove taking flight. "Overall, though, I don't think he can complain."

"No…" she paused and then said, "but I don't think he would."

Tony had to agree, thinking of the resigned attitude Andy had when they'd talked at the start of this (God that seemed like a long time ago). When Andy had given the reason ('not an excuse,' he'd said) that he'd participated in the kidnapping, and told Tony he would take what he had coming to him.

Tony clearly remembered that awful twist in his stomach as Andy said it. Not guilt, no…because Andy had committed a crime and had hurt Pepper, but a feeling that maybe the guy didn't deserve the full extent of the law.

Pepper caught his gaze, pulling him back to the present. One side of her mouth turned up in a rueful smile, "don't ever remind me that I said this, but…you were right to help him, Tony."

Tony smiled at her, half a dozen smart-ass remarks spinning through his mind, but all he did was nod. "Thanks. I had my doubts, too." One shoulder went up, dropped. He couldn't quite meet her eyes. "I have to believe that people can screw up royally, maybe more than once….and still be worth redeeming."

Pepper didn't say anything, understanding exactly what he meant, as only Peppers do.

Devin was getting further and further away. "Devin!" Tony called. "Get back here, little man."

The little man in question turned, treating the two adults to the sight of a face absolutely covered with melted chocolate ice cream. Pepper winced, setting her soda down and digging into her purse for a napkin while Tony laughed. The little boy they were spending the afternoon with was a far cry from the boy Tony first met in the apartment building weeks ago. This little boy was clean (with the exception of the ice cream), and looked happy. There were still a few shadows in his eyes…but that was understandable. He hadn't seen his mom for a while. But she was finally doing what she was supposed to be doing. If she could stay on the wagon for the next few days, Protective Services said the two could have a supervised visit.

"How are you doing with the Mediros'?" Tony asked Devin, watching Pepper wet a napkin from their drinking water and swipe (ineffectively) at the boy's ice cream covered cheeks.

"Eh." He grunted, one eyebrow and one shoulder going up simultaneously. "They're alright." He frowned, small eyebrows creasing, apparently torn between missing his mom, acknowledging the truth about his temporary foster placement and wanting to be surly…out of habit. It made Tony dizzy, watching all those emotions skitter through the kid's expressions. "They have a dog."

"Mhm. They do, huh….what color?"

"Cow colored."

Tony snorted. Pepper smiled, reaching down to wet the napkin again. Most of the brown was on the napkin by this time. "Of course. This dog have a name?"

"Uh…Mabel?" But he looked doubtful and this was obviously not an important detail and just as obviously, they had used up as much time as the boy was willing to grant them. Pulling away from Pepper mid-wipe, he wrinkled his nose. Taking a lick of his mostly melted ice cream (undoing the majority of Pepper's efforts), he ran to the next exhibit. Monkeys – the funny looking ones with the big noses. They were talking to each other with big whooping cries, swinging on the branches in their rock wall surrounded space.

"Careful!" Pepper called, "Don't get too close." Tony watched her watching Devin, one side of his mouth turning up when she chuckled. Devin had managed to choc-lify his nose, and was not having any luck getting it off his face with his empty hand. Consequently, he was again, almost entirely covered in chocolate. Tony nodded. 15 seconds. Impressive.

He looked over to his sweetheart, jerking his chin and indicating the child. "If you want one of those, I can help you with that." He winced almost before he finished saying it. He was joking of course, but what if she didn't see it that way? What if she said yes, what if she said yes and she was serious about wanting a kid, not about jumping into bed?

Pepper looked over at him, processing that. She laughed. "Oh really? I'm not sure I'm ready for that." Tony returned her smile, that tight feeling going away, replaced with relief. Kids would be fun, sure…just not quite yet. Laughing a little, Pepper looked down at her hands, swiping at some errant drips of chocolate. "I have enough trouble handling your messes."

Tony stuck his tongue out at her.

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Yeah. Definitely not ready to have a baby, but," then her eyes twinkled, though it might just have been the afternoon sun. "…but I'm willing to practice making one."

Tony grinned. Time to pick up the pace. "Hey, Devin."

The boy looked away from the monkeys, blue eyes bright. "Yeah?"

"Let's get a move on."

. . .

Tony considered leaving things where they were.

Andy knew he'd been (somewhat) vindicated in Tony's eyes – how could he not? Stark's defense attorneys represented him, had worked with the prosecutor and plea bargained the heck outta the sentence the kidnapper would have gotten otherwise. Andy had to have heard from his sister by now…she was out of that nightmare situation and on the road to being clean (though sadly, Tony knew chances were good she would slip up again at some point). But little man Devin was in school, well-fed and the dark circles under his eyes were gone. It would've taken a Genie and three wishes to get a happier ending.

What more was there to say? Well. Mainly thanks to his lovely assistant-turned-sweetheart, Ms. Pepper Potts, Tony was about to find out. This was all her fault.

"Go see him, Tony. He's closing a chapter in his life. Maybe turning a corner." She'd heaved a breath like she didn't really want to finish the thought, but continued….casually…because she knew him too well, "you are too. If it were me, I'd need some kind of closure."

So, here it was, late in the afternoon. Tony had set up a brief meeting with Andy. The plea bargain arrangement had been approved, the paperwork was done and Andy's time would be starting that afternoon. He was leaving in half-an-hour from the court to go directly to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00. It was amazing that now arrangements were made and agreed upon, what had been a slow-as-molasses process was moving at light speed.

The room they were in was small, relatively barren. A table, a couple of chairs, couch and a small desk. A guard stood outside and the door was cracked enough that Tony could just see the blue edge of the burly man's sleeve.

"Hey, Mr. Stark," the former kidnapper looked nervous, and where Tony might have expected smiles and many, many thanks, instead it was something completely different and he felt distinctly uncomfortable. The man wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Uh. Maybe I should go."

That earned him Andy's full attention. "No! Please don't, um, what I mean is..." The brown-haired kidnapper wore a frown and he lowered his voice when his near-shout earned him a glare from the guard. He met Tony's eyes briefly and then focused on the floor again with enough intensity that the carpet might catch fire. "Look, I uh, don't know what to say about everything you did…" he muttered, his voice fading into an indistinct mumble.

Tony decided that in the future he should listen to his completely rational, responsible, adult male instincts instead of well-intentioned but misguided girlfriend's assertions that 'closure' was a good thing. Closure, schmosure. This kind of discomfort just wasn't worth it.

But Andy was talking again. "…what you did for me and my sis." To Tony's horror, when Andy looked up this time, his eyes were red and brighter than they should be in the conference room lighting. "And for what you did for my nephew. I just," he shook his head and stopped talking.

Tony started to say 'don't worry about', or 'it wasn't a problem', or even, 'it was kind of an accident', but Andy beat him to it, getting a grip on himself and saying…

"Mr. Stark. I'll never be able to repay you, you and Miss Potts both." He huffed a breath. It was almost a laugh. "After what I did to you, you could've let me rot. You should've, maybe. But," and now he did smile. "Instead, you fixed what got me into this." Just then, from the corner of his eye, Tony saw the guard look at his watch. Turning, the uniformed man stepped into the room, heading towards Andy. He didn't have to say that time was up, it was obvious. With the air of a man on his way to jail (maybe because he was), Andy said, "I don't know if you can forgive me, but I want you to know that I appreciate what you did." Tentatively, Andy held out his hand to his former captive. "Thank you."

Tony reached out and shook Andy's hand. "You're welcome."

Andy nodded, seeming satisfied. He turned to follow the guard, but paused when Tony said, "you know, I might have accidentally bought some apartments that need a lot of work." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a business card. Held it out to Andy. "There's way too much for the current building manager to do. You mentioned you used to be a handyman. Do good in there, get out early - there just might be a job waiting for you."

Andy looked at the card, eyebrows creasing almost ridiculously in surprise. But he hesitated only a moment. Taking the card, he flicked the edge of it with his thumb and gripped it tighter, grinning. "Yeah, if it's still there when I get out…I'll take it."

One side of Tony's mouth turned up as he watched Andy leave. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, feeling a weight lift. He'd started this just wanting to know the truth - and repay a debt. Amazingly, he'd managed both.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he pivoted, walking out into the hall and heading toward the exit. He knew he wasn't done with this yet, he still had to find Max. But that was just a matter of time and when it happened, the outcome was a given. Settling this bit with Andy was probably the biggest part of moving past those awful days in the warehouse.

Time to go home. Kiss Pepper, eat dinner, tinker in the shop. The court conference room door swung shut behind him, a reminder that Andy was on his way to jail. That the man still had to face the consequences of his actions, regardless of the reason he'd done them. Tony couldn't feel guilty about that though. At least now the man has hope of a decent living when he gets out and just as importantly, his sister and nephew have a chance at some kind of life too.

Yeah.

Okay, Pepper was right. Closure? Not such a bad thing. He grinned. Tonight he'd finally get some real rest. And regardless of whether he had a glass of milk or … something else, he'd sleep well.

finis

a/n: Hey There! Urgh, I was hoping this last bit would be longer, but it fought me. :/ Thanks for coming along for the ride...I hope you've enjoyed it! This was *sniff* the last wip I have for Ironman atm. Sooooo, I'm off to plug away on the half dozen other stories I've started for other fandoms (yes, I should finish them too, I think...), while I wait for Age of Ultron and whatever Evil Plot Bunnies pop up after that. :) All the best ~ dulce