Notes: Thanks for the reviews guys!
Chapter 5: The End is Really the Beginning.
Pepper was absolutely furious when Tony finally emerged from the workshop after forwarding Hollie's medical history to Bruce and Stephen. The glare she gave him could have made hell freeze over as he casually strode into the penthouse lounge. He tried to ignore it, but failed miserably. It didn't help that she was still all dressed up in a glittering blue evening gown and had her reddish hair tied into elaborate up-do that she'd obviously spent a great deal of time working on.
"Tony." Pepper said in an aggravated Tone. "We had plans."
"I ran into a speed bump." He said with a shrug. "I'm sorry Peps, there's a life hanging in the balance. It's kind of important."
"Hacking into SHIELD's files is more important than a date that we planned months ago?" Pepper complained. "Blowing up the walls when you can't do it is fine, too, I guess." Tony rolled his eyes.
"Pepper, please -"
"No, Tony. You never have time for me, and when you do, you're off doing something reckless that's probably going to get you blown up and you'll end up just like that SHIELD agent. Is that what you want? Do You have any idea how that makes me feel? One day, you just might not be here anymore and I don't know if I can take that anymore! I can't bear the thought of you dying!" Pepper ranted.
"'That SHIELD agent' has a name, even if she is an ornery bitch." Tony grumbled. "Pepper, I love you, but what you're asking me to do is to change who I am. I can't do that."
"Because you're so damn selfish! All you ever think about is yourself!" She cried, tears welling in her eyes.
"Yeah, I am, but so are you. I can only compromise so much, but you won't even try." Tony retorted.
"Fine. I guess this is how it has to end." Pepper said tearfully.
"Pepper, I only want for you to be happy. But I don't think I'm in a position to give you that." Tony said sadly.
"You never were." She said and stormed away.
"Pepper! Just... Please don't quit on me. I still need... I still want you to be my CEO. You're really the best there is when it comes to Stark Industries." Tony called. She nodded stiffly and got into the elevator. Tony watched her go, and collapsed onto the couch with his head in his hands when she did. He knew it was coming, he just didn't expect to play out like that. ...Like some shitty chick flick. He knew she'd come around, he knew that once Pepper had some time to herself they could go back to being friends like they always were. She and Rhodey were all he had before the Avengers, and Tony knew Pepper wouldn't just turn tail and never speak to him again. She wasn't like that. Still, it was fucking depressing.
Tony walked over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of the most expensive scotch he had.
"Jarvis, I'm going to drink myself into a goddamn coma, and unless I'm literally showing signs of alcohol poisoning, do not interrupt me." He said blankly.
"As you wish, Sir. I shall not disturb your ill-advised pity party." Jarvis responded as Tony pulled the cork out of the scotch and took a gulp of it. He didn't even bother with a glass, the whole bottle was as good as gone and it would probably be followed by more.
Hollie lay staring at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts as she recalled (and tried to forget) Pepper's muffled argument with Tony the night before. She felt a little bad for him, as much of an ass as Stark was, he seemed to really care about Potts. Not that it made a difference to Hollie. She didn't do relationships, or even sex for the most part – unless seducing the right men got her in a better position to carry out a job. Who could love a cold hearted killer like her, anyway? The closest thing she had ever had to a friend was Natasha, and even her Hollie kept at an arm's length.
"Jarvis, tilt the bed up a bit and turn the History channel on." She said with a sigh. A news report of another terrorist attack in Chicago that left thirty civilians dead vanished and was replaced with a documentary about the Roman catacombs.
"Ugh, on second thought just shut the TV off." Hollie groaned. She spent more than enough time crawling through those dusty catacombs to infiltrate high security areas in Rome. The last thing she needed was to be reminded of now was her days in the Mafia that really weren't all that far in her past. It had only been two years since Assunta Antonelli joined up with SHIELD and became Hollie Steel.
She looked out the window at the view of Manhattan, desperate to be walking the streets of New York that she knew almost as well Florence by now. Granted, much was changed in the aftermath of the Chitauri invasion, but New York was still New York and life goes on as it always had.
"Morning sunshine." Hollie turned her head to glare at Tony who was standing in the doorway to her room.
"To whom do I owe this pleasure?" She asked sarcastically.
"Well, I guess you could blame Natasha, she's off doing SHIELD shit, so I'm looking after you for the day." Tony rambled, attempting sarcasm but missing the mark by a mile.
"Meaning that you're not allowed to leave because you spent the night drinking after Miss Potts broke up with you, and your friends worry for your health. I don't blame them considering what your SHIELD files say of your destructive tendencies." Hollie commented, smirking. Natasha wasn't the only living lie detector working for SHIELD.
"Pepper didn't break up with me, not that it's any of your business." Tony snapped coldly.
"I can smell the alcohol on your breath from here. You're wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but they're wrinkled so I would assume that you slept in them, rather than simply having chose to wear them again. Your posture suggests back pain – probably from leaning over the toilet with a hangover for the better part of the morning. Your tone of voice has none of it's usual arrogance, which implies emotional stress, thus your reason for drinking so heavily. Do you need more? I'm sure that's enough to reinforce my conclusion that Miss Potts has left you, when taking into consideration the argument you had last night. I don't need to be able to move to know how to think or be observant of my surroundings, Mr. Stark. Please do not insult my intelligence." Hollie said in a flat, even tone. Tony blinked at her in surprise, speechless for a moment.
"I'm right, of course." She added, smiling in amusement at the look on Tony's face.
"Are you the Sherlock to my Watson?" He asked, some of his sarcasm finally returning.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Stark."
"Christ. Don't you watch TV, or movies or read? You're as bad as Captain Cockblock." Tony said incredulously.
"I was raised as a thrall to the Mafia. I kill people, hack into secure networks, and kill some more people. Sometimes I seduce them if absolutely necessary, but I by far prefer killing them rather than debasing myself. I behave more like a machine than a human, and do not let emotion cloud my judgement. I knew nothing else before Agent Romanov brought me to SHIELD. Altre domande? (Any more questions?)" Hollie retorted.
"Machine might be halfway fitting by the time Bruce and Merlin are done with you. You'll be like the Terminator but ten times sexier." Tony said, knowing the random references would probably annoy her. "Anyway, I finished building your arc reactor so I can have my spare back. We'll switch it out later. That might hurt like a bitch, or it won't. I have no idea if you'll be able to feel it or not."
"As you wish." Hollie muttered. "The end is never really the end. It is always the beginning of something new – for better or worse. Instead of drowning yourself in scotch, you should be looking for a different woman who accepts you as you are. Self-pity will lead you nowhere."
"Hmm. Jarvis, turn on BBC's Sherlock and don't let her change the channel or turn it off. Buon divertimento, cari. (Have fun, dear.)" Tony said with a wicked grin and left the room. He could hear Hollie swearing all the way to the elevator. Tony wasn't sure he if he should be disgusted or proud of himself that he remembered so much Italian from the classes he'd been forced to take as electives back in his days at MIT. Either way, he was definitely going to brush up on it to piss off Hollie, which may or may not have been his new favorite pastime. ...Even if it was probably going to get him killed.
Hollie glared in loathing at the opening credits of Sherlock. She couldn't do anything about it; there was no way she could hack Jarvis remotely without access to a separate server, which she obviously did not have.
"Che bastardo. (That bastard.)" She growled to herself, and realized that it was mostly Stark purposely making her angry that had so far prevented her from falling into self-pity of her own. She was too preoccupied with wanting to wring his neck to be too bothered by the fact that she couldn't even twitch her fingers. Maybe it was his own way of intentionally distracting her from how miserable she actually was. Hollie had to admit, it was a lot more effective than half-assed concern and corny get-well cards.