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Stark13: Every time I see there is an update on your fic, I'm so excited ! I just can't wait tout read it ! Thanks again for your story ! – Thank you! I know the execution and update schedule for this story has been a hot mess. Thank you so much for your patience with it and for not losing hope ^_^
Pepperonylove: I love it! Hope to see more fluff. I miss Pepperony so much. Your fic realy helps alleviate the pain CW caused. Lols. Im still hoping for a Stark baby. :( :( :( Pls update soon! Thanks for this! : - Awww! I miss them too! Especially now that they're in a better place in this fic I think it's therapeutic for all of us until MCU brings back our Pepperony.
hadley: Love the revamped format and this chapter OMG! When Pepper brought up Spidey I legit died! Your writing seriously makes me so happy 333 – Thank you! I haven't spoiled myself about anything for Homecoming, but I hope Pepper gets mentioned at least!
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Chapter 6: Pretoria
As soon as the jet had landed, the couple knew that their regular business attire was not going to do them any favors in Pretoria. The typically warm and humid city felt arid and unbearably hot. The last time he had been here, he had come alone. It had been raining like crazy, the temperature at a comfortable 60 degrees Fahrenheit with a nice breeze. At the moment, however, as they stood on the runway of the airport, their clothes were sticking to their skin and sweat ran down their faces as if someone had poured several buckets of it over their heads.
"You think Yolandi is controlling the weather now?"
After her inquiry, Pepper ran the back of her hand over her forehead as they waited for the arrival of the delayed shuttle that would take them to yet another posh and, hopefully, cold hotel. It had only been half an hour since they had landed, but she was already starting to feel weak and dehydrated under the harsh sun. The jet had been shut down completely to get it ready for the next flight, which left them both at the mercy of the heat.
"To get me out of my pants again, you mean?" Tony asked, dreading their meeting with one of the many women he regretted spending the night with during his playboy past, and not skirting away from putting out there the issue that would be the center of their conversation while Yolandi was around. She had been one of the few women he had bedded several times – every time he visited South Africa, in fact, but it had all been casual and without any strings attached.
Or so Tony had thought.
"Or to watch me melt into the ground," Pepper sighed and pulled at the front of her blouse to bring in some air. "She didn't like me when I was just your assistant. She's gonna hate me now."
Tony wished that Pepper was just being paranoid or joking; perhaps a victim of the extreme heat, but he knew that she was not. It was no secret that Yolandi had always looked down on Pepper Potts due to the strong bond that she and Tony had always had, and also because she was a firm believer that any woman who made a living serving a man was an embarrassment to all the other females in the world. It had not mattered to Yolandi that Pepper Potts was the only woman that the billionaire had respected and trusted enough to keep around all these years without having to get into her pants first, or that the redhead had been the only woman to have had the balls, determination, perseverance and patience to keep a leash on the eccentric man. Or, more recently, that Pepper Potts was the head of his fucking foundation or that she was still the CEO of Stark Industries.
Either way, as ridiculous as Pepper's query had sounded, if anyone anywhere were to come up with a way to control the weather for one's own personal gain, Yolandi Venter would be the one to achieve this feat, no questions asked. It was as if the woman liked to use her powers for evil… sometimes.
Yolandi was a rather attractive woman with a brain that almost rivaled Tony's. She was a talented scientist at heart, but her logic and rationality was often overwhelmed by her compulsive need to control everything and everyone around her. When it came to her company and donations, she did have the best interests of the world as a whole at heart, but she also liked things to be done her way and only her way, free of rebuttals from anyone.
Back in the day, Tony had found it intriguing and exhilarating to get a dominating woman like Yolandi to be submissive in bed; a task he had accomplished without much trouble, several times. Nowadays, he would kill for a time machine to go back and kick himself in the nuts until they turned blue for thinking that way about the female mogul. Ironically enough, said time machine would probably be built either by Yolandi herself too, or by her buddy, Elon Musk.
Because, oh, yes! Pretoria was home to many scholars and scientists, despite the perception the world had of the locale. Hell, South Africa itself was the proud home of the first successful heart transplant, particularly the city of Cape Town. Many people would have not guessed the African country at the southmost tip of the continent to have such an impact in science and medicine, but it did and it was. Most of the bright minds of the area originated from one of the three capitals of the country, particularly the one they were visiting right now.
"You know what I'm thinking, Tony?" Pepper used her left hand to fan her quickly reddening face.
"What are you thinking, Pep?"
"Our investors are jerks. All of them. Almost. Why do we hang out with them? Because of their money? I say: fuck'em. Fuck'em all!"
Tony's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Hearing Pepper curse was always amusing to him, simply because of how rare it was for it to take place. He knew that Pepper was not really looking for a response either, but rather to vent due to the discomfort of meeting Yolandi being augmented by the hot weather, so he just laughed and gave her a side hug.
"We can do this, Pepper. If we stick together, we'll be fine. And with this sweat clinging to us, I think we're pretty much stuck."
Pepper smirked at this sweet attempt at a joke and returned the embrace with one of her arms around his waist, even if what she truly wanted was to keep herself from anything that could reign in the heat.
"You mean you don't want me to leave you alone with Yolandi while we're here?"
Tony grimaced. "That. And I don't want you to stay alone with her either," his tone turned serious. "You know how possessive she gets. I don't want her thinking you're OK being the guinea pig for any of the Space X projects of Elon's."
"I'd rather be on Mars right now, to be honest with you."
"And I'd rather be there with you too, believe it or not. Probably colder than here. Martians probably more hospitable, too."
The laughter that followed Tony's teasing ended when they saw the shuttle finally arriving to take them away from this heat. And their relief then plummeted when they saw Yolandi exiting the vehicle from the passenger's side.
"Well, well, well!" Yolandi fast-walked towards the couple, her high heels clicking loudly on the asphalt. "If it isn't the most talked about duo of the past few days. Welcome to Pretoria!"
Despite Tony's body language, Yolandi pulled him towards her for a hug, her body practically rubbing itself onto the genius. In contrast, she then in turn simply extended her hand towards the redhead, barely making contact with Pepper's hand, scowling as if she was avoiding someone carrying the plague.
"How was the flight?" Yolandi then asked, snapping her fingers at the driver of the shuttle to take the bags onto the back.
"Long."
Tony grabbed Pepper's hand in his when he saw her wobble a bit, and then led them both to the back of the shuttle car. He could tell that Pepper's skin was starting to burn already. She never tanned. For her sake, they needed to get her hydrated and under the shade as quickly as possible. "Would love to get out of this heat," Tony added after a brief pause.
"Oh, of course," Yolandi feigned understanding as she followed the couple towards the vehicle. "I forget that foreigners can't handle the weather here. You look like shit warmed over, Ms. Potts."
Yeah, that sounds about right, Pepper thought with disdain of the woman who appeared to not be wasting time in executing her attempts at humiliation.
"Mrs. Stark," Tony said before Pepper could muster the will and the energy to correct Yolandi.
"Yeah, I don't see it?" Yolandi's condescending smile was followed by a scoff.
"What don't you see?" Tony narrowed his eyes.
"No offense, Tony. I just…" she shook her head and then stared at Pepper, "You were his assistant for an eternity and a half. No career ambitions despite your higher education. You seemed pretty content being his bitch. I just don't picture how this marriage will last. Tony is a man of big dreams… and you're just… you, you know? You're not even a scientist. What could you two possibly talk about when grunt company work is not involved?"
"Excuse me?"
Pepper's face and tone of voice showed that, despite her utter discomfort with the weather, she was seconds away from losing her business façade. It was one thing to deal with the subtleties of the two men that had all but implied several offensive statements about her and her gender's worth, but another to be bluntly insulted and demeaned without second thought by another woman. Both of them had known that Yolandi was not one to sugarcoat her thoughts or to pull her punches, and that she would definitely have a strong opinion against their union, but neither of them had expected to be so harshly hit by her venom within two minutes of saying hello. They had not even left the runway yet, for fuck's sake! Could they not just turn around and head back? Maybe have a sleepover with Raul Contreras? The man's closed-minded remarks seemed like pleasantries just about now.
Unfortunately, Yolandi was not yet done.
"Like I said: no offense, but–"
"Let me stop you right there," Tony began, "You think you know what that phrase means, Yolandi, but you really don't. So, how about you stop saying it, we get in this car, and get to our hotel. Pepper and I need to cool off and relax."
"Oh!" Yolandi smiled, not at all fazed by Tony's dismissive remark. "I forgot to tell you… probably should've started with that: there are no hotels, Tony. You'll be staying at my place."
"No," was Pepper's deadpanned response. She would rather stay under a tree with a leaf as a fan and cardboard as a bed than anywhere near this woman at all.
"Yes," Yolandi offered her yet another one of her smug smiles as she got into the front passenger seat of the car. "There's a science conference in town. The hotels have been booked for months."
"We booked in advance," Tony argued, begrudgingly leading Pepper inside the back seat of the Evil Carriage of Hell and closing the door behind them.
"At one of my newly acquired hotels," Yolandi replied.
"You… you bought a hotel? The hotel we're staying in?" Tony held back a groan. He could tell how this was going to work out.
"Yes. It's good business at times like these. Easy money and easy tax breaks."
"So, you can get us a room in it, then?" Pepper asked, her half-closed eyes fixed on the air conditioning controls no one had yet bothered to turn on.
"Oh, I wish I could," Yolandi began lowering the window of her door. "But, like I said, every room has been booked. Even yours. We had an important party that would make better use of such a large penthouse, so we made the trade."
"So, you gave it away?" Tony was grinding his teeth now; Pepper leaning heavily on him. "You gave away our room? Without consulting us?"
"Of course! It made better sense to stay at my place, if your intent is to come meet with me, after all. Don't you agree?"
"WHAT? I can't believe that–"
"Oh! Roll down your windows, sweetheart," Yolandi put on her sunglasses and smiled, not at all remorseful for interrupting Tony's reply. "The A/C is not an option right now. It doesn't bother us locals but… yeah…"
"What?"
"And it's not an option at my place, either. Or anywhere we go, really. The entire city is on an energy abuse ban. Part of the conference spirit. Trying to bring awareness to reducing the impact of non-renewable fuel on the planet. You're getting a true Pretoria weather experience this time around."
"No," Tony shook his head from side to side. "Turn on that damn A/C right now."
"Can't," Yolandi snapped her fingers at the driver and he started the car.
"Yolandi, I'm not asking you again…"
"Good, because the answer won't change," the woman replied, clearly not at all threatened by Iron Man's alter ego. "I can't be seen breaking the rule I set up for this week, now can I? I have a reputation to keep, Stark. And you know how important reputations are for people like us."
Dammit! Tony inwardly groaned. He did know.
"But Pepper–"
"Can put up with it like the rest of us," Yolandi interrupted. "And, if I were you, I'd open that window for her. She looks like she's about to pass out."
Tony's head snapped towards his left to see that the redhead had closed her eyes now, barely conscious as he held her up with one arm while the other rolled down the window on her side. Her freckles were so pronounced that he could barely see the rest of her skin. The clothes clung to her in wide layers of dampness. He could already see the redness of inflamed and soon-to-be-peeling skin on her face, evidence that the sunscreen had already been melted away by the sweat and heat.
His poor ginger looked so miserable and ill, and it seemed as if her discomfort was just getting started. Maybe their earlier joke had not been that far off. Maybe Yolandi was playing Mother Nature, if just to see how much she could fuck with them – how similarly ruthless and unforgiving she could be, while at it.
Luckily for Tony, he could be an asshole, too, if he felt like it.
And, unfortunately for Yolandi Venter, he totally felt like it.
xxxXXXxxx
If Tony Stark did not know any better, he would claim that this outlandish situation was simply an attempt by their host to kill his partner. Thankfully, he did know better – he hoped… and he also knew how to even out a dirty fight.
"Tony?"
Pepper's voice was barely a whisper. Her eyes were closed and her head lolled from side to side. She felt frail and almost limp in his arms as he carried her through the threshold and into to their guestroom. Yolandi was hot on his heels, as if she were gladly invited to whatever happened next. The over-the-top clinginess she had been displaying since their arrival was starting to get on his nerves. Despite Tony's coldness towards her, the woman had not given an indication of having any intention of letting up any time soon; no matter how much of a bother she was to the couple or how much of a hypocrite she was making of herself by desperately seeking the attention of a man that clearly had no interest in her. There she had been, putting Pepper down for many years for lowering herself by serving a man, yet here was Yolandi herself, begging for some sort of mind from a very apathetic Tony Stark.
Tony ground his teeth in anger at the thought, suddenly wanting nothing more than to turn around on his heels and tell off Yolandi Venter in a way that was evident to her that she was free to go perform a crude act of the sexual kind on herself, preferably by inserting a long cylindrical object directly into her anus. To his dismay, however, his hope of action was halted by the sudden discomfort that abruptly enveloped him as he reached the middle of the room. He felt as if he was setting himself alight – as if he had just strolled inside a heating oven at its highest broiling setting. As if he had unexpectedly returned to the dry, unforgiven desert in Afghanistan.
"What the hell?"
Hell. It certainly felt like it.
"Oh!" Yolandi covered her mouth with her right and hand to hide a smile as she pointed towards the wall with her free hand. "I forgot to open the windows in here. This place is a boiler, huh?"
The inventor did not bother to reply or even look at the woman. He simply narrowed his eyes.
Of course she did! Of course she would pull this stunt on them. She knew that Pepper did not handle high temperatures well. She knew that his woman was genetically susceptible to the power of the big, yellow ball in the sky because of her ginger traits. It was one of the reasons why Tony had had, in the past, plenty of time to fool around with Yolandi while visiting South Africa: because Pepper could barely withstand the walk to and from vehicles under the Pretorian sun.
Oh, Yolandi would pay for this dearly. She would regret ever crossing him and trying to harm what belonged to Tony Stark. He would make sure of it.
Even though his hands were itching to shake the insane woman to oblivion, his full attention returned to Pepper as he carefully laid her on the bed and sat next to her by the side of the mattress. Yolandi would get what was coming to her. Yet for now, he had to care for his wife first.
"Honey, are you still with me?" Tony grabbed one of Pepper's hands in both of his and pressed it against his chest.
"Mmhhh?"
"It's gonna be OK," he kissed her hand. "Just give me a minute to think, alright?"
Pepper weakly nodded and Tony ran the back of his hand down her feverish face. His gaze was filled with both deep concern and endless adoration for his woman, despite the precarious situation – a look that Yolandi evidently did not appear to appreciate if not directed at herself. Tony could not care less about what Yolandi thought or believed that she deserved. They had only been in Pretoria for an hour, and all the insufferable woman had done so far was put Pepper through hell. She was being smart about it, too. Who would blame her if Pepper ended up hospitalized due to heatstroke or severe dehydration? It was just the way the weather was in the city. There was nothing anyone could do or blame anyone for if foreigners did not take additional precautions to deal with Mother Nature in Pretoria. To top it off, since the locals were so used to such situations, Pepper would receive proper care long before she would be in mortal danger from the heat exposure, so Yolandi would avoid taking her petty torments too far.
"I think she might be indisposed for the day," Yolandi said nonchalantly, as if the redhead was simply taking a nap.
Tony pulled his gaze away from Pepper and stared all around himself, her hand still in one of his, searching for a possible solution to their current predicament. Opening the windows was the easiest thing to do right now, but he was aware that with the air being as hot and dry as he already knew that it was, it would not really bring any relief to the redhead. It would probably only make it worse for her.
"So?"
"We have a business meeting in thirty minutes. Wanna come into my office and get an early start?"
"No."
"Why not? It's not like Virginia can join us. Might as well get right down to business."
Tony spared Yolandi a furious glance, knowing damn well that the business she wanted to get down to was not of the kind he wanted to get involved with. Not with her. It nearly disgusted the inventor to watch the woman's attempts at getting him into bed with her, while his very much ill wife was lying next to them, perhaps on the verge of needing medical attention, by the looks of it.
"You got ice?" Tony stood up from the bed and ran towards the kitchenette area of the guestroom, groaning when he found the fridge empty of cold water or ice.
Cold water! Tony snapped his fingers and grinned. That's it!
"You know what?" Tony shrugged off his blazer and threw it on a chair. "You're right. I'll see you in the office in twenty."
"Oh?" Yolandi could not hold back the look of victory on her face, especially when Tony began taking off his vest and then started undoing the buttons of his shirt.
"You have a point," Tony continued, hopping from foot to foot until his shoes were off; untucking his shirt from his pants coming next. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave. Get Pepper out of this damn heat."
"What?"
"That's the bathroom, right?" Tony pointed towards a door by the corner of the room, earning him a dumbfounded nod from Yolandi.
"Yeah."
"Cool!"
Before Yolandi could gain control over her vocal chords, Tony returned to Pepper and took off her shoes. He then lifted her up in his arms once more, gave Yolandi a winning smirk, and then pointed towards the exit of the room with his chin, a clear indication that he expected her and wanted her to leave.
"I'll be there soon. My wife and I are gonna take a cold shower. Together. You probably don't wanna be in the room for this. We like to do other things in there, too."
Tony's smug look on his face as he carried Pepper into the bathroom with him was not lost to Yolandi Venter. In fact, it only made her blood boil hotter than the room she was now alone in. Nevertheless, the feeling of being throw into an active volcano in the middle of an eruption was nothing compared to the sense of humiliation that befell her when she heard the shower running and then the weak yet very recognizable sound of Pepper Potts and Tony Stark laughing aloud.
The score was now tied.
Oh, Tony. You're so going to pay for that!
xxxXXXxxx
He was five minutes late to their meeting when he finally stood by the door of her office, his hair still damp from the shower, barefoot, and not wearing a shirt – looking too comfortable for a business trip. He did not walk inside the office, however. Instead, he snapped his fingers at her to make sure he had her full attention before he finally spoke.
"Grab your shit. We're having the meeting in the guestroom."
"Excuse me?"
"Pep's feeling much better," he grinned, looking not at all remorseful for his derisive tone. "And our room is more comfortable, too. Hurry up!"
Tony did not give Yolandi a chance to make any type of reply before he disappeared down the hall, confident that the woman would follow him without question. Begrudgingly, Yolandi stood from her chair, grabbed her electronic tablet and her cell phone, and then followed the inventor to his room. He made no effort to slow down his fast pace, either, forcing the female investor to almost take on a sprint in her own damn home to be able to catch up with him.
She watched with angry eyes as Tony stood outside the entrance of the guestroom, holding the door open for her and impatiently waving her over. The move made her shiver in fury at his patronizing antics, her mind already plotting her next move. Nevertheless, as she was just a few feet away from where Tony stood, she felt a shiver run down her spine for a completely different reason than her rage. The air around her suddenly felt cold – almost bitter – and she could not help but narrowing her eyes in confusion.
"Feels nice, huh?" Tony smiled when he realized Yolandi was catching on to what he had done, and he then roughly pushed her inside the room when the scene before her made her freeze in her tracks.
The room was no longer on fire. It was quite the opposite, in fact. And that was not the only thing that had changed.
Pepper Potts did not look miserable at all anymore, and she was also now wide awake. She was dressed in casual clothes, too – in short-shorts, of all things, showing off her long and surprisingly toned legs. She was also barefoot, sporting perfectly manicured feet, sitting across the two-person couch. She held a tall glass of lemonade in one hand, clearly reveling the feel of cold air against her once-parched skin. The windows and curtains remained closed, and there were no pedestal fans to be seen, adding to the momentary confusion as to how this was even taking place. The redhead had been barely conscious just half an hour ago. Now, she looked like she was ready to hit the beach.
It took Yolandi two additional seconds to realize that the reason for the nice breeze in the room was because the air conditioning was turned on. The rest of her mansion, including her home office, was still relying on open windows and fans to keep the flow of air going. It was only this room that appeared to be spared from the heatwave outside. It was only in this room that a cool breeze could be felt.
"What… how…"
"My husband's a genius."
"And a genius knows how to please his wife," Tony added with a wink as he rounded Yolandi's standing form to join Pepper in the small living area of the guestroom. The moment Tony approached the couch, Pepper lifted her legs to allow Tony to sit where her feet had been resting just seconds ago. Tony then placed her feet on his lap, idly massaging them while he waited for Yolandi to uproot herself from her spot. It took the woman five more precious seconds for her brain to connect with her mouth, and for her legs to take her to the opposite couch.
"How is the A/C on? I distinctly remember telling you we're on an energy ban."
"Actually, what I remember you saying is that you wanted to raise awareness to reducing the impact of non-renewable fuel on the planet."
"And that means not wasting fossil-fueled energy sources on something as trivial as climate-controlled homes."
Pepper smiled. "Which is why Tony retrofitted an arc reactor to turn on the A/C here. I mean, you do know that Stark Industries is the pioneer and leader in clean energy sources, right? That's why your company invested in ours, after all."
"Arc reactor? What the hell is an arc reactor?" Yolandi shook her head from side to side. She knew that Stark Industries was working on ways to pull the plug on fossil fuels, but the details of how exactly they were achieving said feat were still a company secret. She had hoped that during this encounter, she could be given the opportunity to pull the information out of Stark himself. But her efforts so far had been in vain. And as long as Pepper Potts had Tony Stark's undivided attention, it would be impossible to get the data she wanted to obtain.
"A proprietary invention of Stark Industries, of course," Pepper replied.
"And you just happen to have one in your bag?"
"Have one with me at all times, just in case," Tony shrugged. "And this is a case where the just in case applies."
"I don't know how I feel about you playing electrician in my home, Stark. Especially without my consent."
"I'll take a wild guess and say that you feel as shitty as we felt when you gave away our hotel room… without our consent."
Yolandi's lips instantly thinned at Tony's reply. Her eyes shone with deep, raging rivers of uncontrolled ire at the way the couple exchanged an obvious conspiratorial glance. Her fists shook on her lap when Tony smiled and winked at the redhead, acting as if they were alone or as if her presence in the room did not count. Despite her current silence and lack of motion, Yolandi Venter was on the verge of losing her cool façade. She was clinging to her sanity by the tips of her fingernails.
But then, as quickly as the anger had risen within her, she then took a deep breath. And smiled.
"Turnabout and all that," Yolandi finally offered, sending shivers down Tony's spine at the way the woman suddenly bounced back. "So, why don't we get this meeting started, huh?"
xxxXXXxxx
They waited thirty seconds after closing the door to their room before letting go of a loud and long sigh of relief; feeling some of the pressure of acting and entertaining being lifted from their backs. They had made it through the first major obstacle of this business stop. Perhaps not coming out completely unscathed, and they were yet to claim absolute victory of the match, but they had won this round.
Pepper closed her eyes and covered her feverish face with her cold hands. With Yolandi gone for now, the escalating headache that had been fiercely pounding her senses since arriving at Pretoria became her primary concern once again. She was not sure how she had managed to keep a straight face and a smile throughout the entire meeting, especially when Yolandi had continued to throw jabs at her, but she had endured. They both had. And now it was time to rest and recover before round two took flight.
The coldness in the room had certainly helped with the scorching sensations on her skin, but she and Tony knew that she would need medical attention as soon as they could sneak out. Both the inventor and the redhead refused to give Yolandi the pleasure of knowing Pepper was still very much in pain and dehydrated, so they had resorted to this plan: make her think that everything was OK with them. That her blatant attempts at coming between them were actually making them be closer than before. That there was nothing the woman could do to tarnish their marriage. That Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were in on it for the long haul.
It had not taken much to teach a lesson or two to the woman, but they were also painfully aware that while they had been not-so-subtly setting boundaries and expectations for her, they had also simultaneously been poking the dragon with a rather pointy and rusted stick. Yolandi gave as hard she got. It was just a matter of time before she found a way to even out the playing field.
Once Tony was certain that Yolandi was not going to come back into their room, he locked the door and walked towards the mini-fridge. From it, he took out the bag of ice that he had placed inside earlier for this very moment, and then joined Pepper by the couch she was still resting on.
"Here," Tony placed the bag on Pepper's head and then knelt by the side of the couch.
"Thanks."
She gave him a small, grateful smile and then searched for his hand without opening her eyes. Tony immediately knew what she was doing and linked his fingers with hers, shortly before bringing them to his face to brush them with his lips. It hurt him like hell to see her coming down from the charade she had put herself through to get back at their host. Yet, it hurt him more that she was doing this for him.
He rested his forehead on her belly, his hand never letting go of hers; their grip never slacking from either side. He relished in the rising and falling of her abdomen with every breath she took. He replayed in his mind the way she had let him bathe her, forgoing any sense of privacy to allow him to tend to her fragile state. The laughter Yolandi had heard while they had started their shower was genuine, although it had not been a product of whatever the investor had surely concocted in her mind. In truth, Tony and Pepper had laughed because the look on the woman's face had been priceless… and because they had bonked heads while trying to balance themselves while outside the shower stall.
There had been nothing romantic or sensual about sharing a shower – their underwear had remained on the entire time. But the fact that she had let herself be cared for by him, in such an intimate way, had rattled him to his very core. He had been extremely gentle with her, ensuring as much as he could that the cold water helped placate some of the discomfort she felt. It had been refreshing and momentarily soothing, she would not deny it, but it had not been an instant cure to what she was suffering. She needed to rest in a cold place. She needed to drink plenty of fluids, preferably some that helped her regain her electrolytes. But above all, she needed to be protected and sent away from whatever else Yolandi Venter had in mind for her.
They both remained silent for several minutes, Tony dreading the reaction that Pepper would probably have at his next words. He knew that she would say that she was fine. That they did not need to deviate from their plans to survive the weekend in Pretoria. That he was being paranoid. Silly. Overprotective. But she also knew that he would always be all of those things when it came to her.
The conversation was not going to be pretty, but it had to be had.
"Pep?"
"Mmhh?"
"I don't… I don't think this is worth the trouble."
He felt the muscles on her stomach tense for a brief instant, but he then felt her relax. Of course she knew what he was thinking! And of course she would pretend that she did not.
"What's not worth the trouble?"
"This," he squeezed her hand and heard her remove the bag from her head, but he did not look up. "You. Like this. Yolandi's money's not worth you being in pain."
He had expected her to immediately deny his claim. To stand up and physically push him away from her as a means to tell him that the issue was not up for discussion. He even expected her to groan and change the subject, but she did neither of those things. Instead, she ran her hand through his hair, massaging him into a state of relaxation before speaking again.
"You're probably right," she exhaled. "Actually, I know you're right. If we can get everyone else on board, convince them to increase their contributions to the Foundation, we might be able to split the difference and be close to breaking even."
"Your accounting degree is cheering for us right now."
"I'm sure," Pepper smiled. "Just like your engineering one is doing a happy dance for getting this room to be cold."
He chuckled at her retort, the smile bringing true relief to his soul, but he then realized that, even though she had just agreed with him, she was yet to say that she was on board with her own suggestion.
The recognition of this made him sigh. "But?"
"But…" Pepper inhaled deeply. "But it wouldn't teach Yolandi a lesson. It wouldn't make it clear that she can't just harm people to get her way. It'd also give her the impression that she can bully herself into someone's marriage – no matter how real or fake it is."
Tony swallowed hard, thinking back to the conversation that he and Happy had had over the phone the night before. The impact of what Happy had warned him about regarding his marriage had just increased tenfold by Yolandi's actions. The need for making a choice had just been sent to the extreme. However, Pepper was in no condition to make an informed decision at the moment. She was tired and ill. She was being tested by the devil that was Yolandi Venter. Telling her right now about the reason for Happy's phone call would not result in forming a logical solution to their situation. It would only tip the scales towards what he would love to happen between them rather than what she would prefer to take place.
Damn Happy Hogan and his ill-timed communication! And damn Tony Stark's sense of self-righteousness, too. Tony thought that he knew what was best for her. And what was best for her was for her not to know that she had to make a major decision about their marriage just yet.
"Maybe you're right, Pep. But I still don't think that it's up to us to teach her a life lesson. And not at your expense. The market will eventually do that for her. Other people will eventually do that for her. Or she'll do it herself. She'll mess up at some point. She'll get cocky and overconfident and she'll slip. She will fuck up. Today. Or Tomorrow. Or in a year or ten. People like that – like her – they tend to dig their own graves. I mean, I'd be one to know that for sure. I'm still trying to dig my ass out of my own."
At that, Pepper finally sat up, forcing Tony to pull his head way from her belly and lock eyes with her. She leaned forward to caress the side of his face, giving him that look of bottomless admiration that he many times did not believe he deserved to receive from her. She ran her fingertips down his cheek a few times, her eyes following their path every instance. She then returned her gaze to his, gave him a real smile, and then lightly shook her head at him, as if the gesture itself was proof enough that he was wrong.
"You're not in a grave, Tony. You're not. You're nothing like her. You never were. You… you'd always been a good man."
Tony scoffed. "Tell that to Charles Spencer."
Pepper frowned. "Who?"
"Charles…" he shook his head. "You don't know him. I didn't either. Nobody will."
Knowing that there was so much more than what he was letting on, Pepper pulled her legs away from the rest of the couch so that he could join her. He eyed the space warily, stealing a glance at her as if to ask permission he did not need, and she further cemented granting it by patting on it twice. Tony stood up, joined her on the couch, and then cleared his throat before speaking again.
"He was one of the victims in Sokovia. A kid. Recent college grad. He was volunteering to build affordable homes. He died during the fight against Ultron. He died because of me."
"Tony–"
"I killed him. I killed him and a whole lot of other innocent people like him that day. I've killed more people than I've helped save."
"That's not true."
"It is. Before I became Iron Man, I killed a lot of people as a weapons developer. Afterwards, I killed them while claiming I was helping them live. When I made Ultron, I thought I was doing everyone a favor. That I was doing the right thing for everyone. That my actions, while drastic, would bring about world peace. I thought that… that if I… that if we… and the Accords…"
When Tony failed to speak again, Pepper pulled his head towards her so that it rested on her chest. He closed his eyes and, against everything he knew he should not be doing, he circled her waist with his arms, welcoming attention and comfort he did not believe he deserved. But he held onto it as if his life depended on it. As if his next breath would not happen if Pepper lost faith in him and no longer wanted to be around him anymore.
This was it. If he was ever to confess to her how his actions had been driven by his need to protect her and be with her forever, this was the time to do so.
"I did it for the world… but I mostly did it for you. Everything I've done. Every decision I've made since I realized I loved you, has been for you. That's why I'm just like Yolandi. Because I'm as selfish as her. So selfish that I put the world at risk just to be with you."
Pepper did not respond, but she also did not push him away. Instead, she rested her chin against the top of his head and started running her fingers through his hair.
"You once asked me, right before we separated, why I created Ultron. Do you remember that?"
"Yes."
"And, do you remember what I said?"
"You said: whoops."
"Yeah," his chuckle was bittersweet. "But the truth is that I built it so that we didn't have to fight anymore. A machine is perfect. Or, that's what I'd thought. It doesn't have stupid feelings to trip over. It can make the right call. Every time. Put forward the logical decisions, with the lowest amount of human loss. It could probably predict and prevent rather than fix and destroy. But above all that, I thought, that if someone else I could trust could fight my fights, then the Avengers would no longer be needed. And then, I could stay home. With you. Marry you. Spend my life with you. Start a family with you. Grow and die old…"
Pepper swallowed hard, remembering one of the misunderstandings that had led her to believe that Tony would have been relieved by the breakup.
Pepper was biting her thumbnail, her right foot tapping impatiently on the floor, while Tony paced back and forth behind her. She had a line-up of five pregnancy tests on the bathroom counter, all a few seconds away from showing the final results. She had not meant for Tony to find out that she suspected she was pregnant, but he had grabbed the bag of tests from the nightstand when he had come home earlier today, thinking it held something kinky for her to wear.
Seeing the tests had instantly killed his libido. And it would probably stay that way for a few days.
"How much longer?" Tony asked even though his phone was keeping track of the time.
"Ten seconds, probably," Pepper replied, unwilling to look at his face when the timer rang.
"Ten seconds. OK. Just… ten seconds. That's not long."
In a dire situation, ten seconds could be the difference between being able to breath another day or be put underground. Ten seconds could be precious to some people. But for them, right now, ten seconds were an entire lifetime… of caring for a brand-new life.
DING!
From the corner of her eye, Pepper noticed that Tony held his breath and snapped his eyes shut after turning off the alarm. This was all she needed to see to know that he was not going to read the tests himself until she told him what they said. The burden of finding out the truth fell on her, and she was not sure if she was ready herself to face it all.
Nevertheless, she walked closer to the sticks, knowing what she was looking for without having to look at the box of instructions one more time. She had taken this test before, just a week ago, and she knew what the big, fat plus sign meant for them.
Pepper gulped and slowly stared at each and every one of those sticks once. Twice. Thrice. Five times. And as she was about to start a sixth time, Tony's calling of her name behind her reminded her that she was not the only one waiting for an answer.
"Negative."
Tony's eyes snapped open. "What?"
"They're all negative."
"What?" Tony rushed toward her. "Are… are you sure?"
"Yeah," she side-eyed him. "False alarm."
"Oh… oh, damn! Oh… damn! Phew! That's a disaster that was avoided. Major mistake undone! I need to double-up next time. Or triple-up. Is that even a thing? PHEWWW!"
His hands went to his face as he exhaled calming breaths through his fingers, so he was not able to see Pepper's distraught look – a look of betrayal and hurt. He was not able to see the tears in her eyes before she wiped them away with the back of her hands. Or the way her chin trembled as she held back a sob. Tony Stark was still Tony Stark. And Tony Stark wanted nothing to do with babies at all.
His stance on children became perfectly clear to the redhead. And it made her realize she needed to find out what was hers.
"For a while there," Pepper began, "You didn't look like you wanted kids."
"Because of the scare?" Tony scoffed. "Yeah. I didn't handle that well, now did I? I just… the possibility of you being pregnant… it-it just reminded me of how fucked-up I am and how I would probably be a fucked-up father too, like mine. I mean, he had his good intentions and all, but he didn't do a good job of showing them. And that reminded me that a fucked-up father was probably also a fucked-up husband. And I didn't want you to go through with that. I didn't want to be the reason why you regretted marrying someone and having kids. But then…"
Pepper thought that he was going to leave the rest unsaid. Implied. Up to her imagination to fill in the blanks. But he instead pulled away from her, held her hands in his, and then locked his gaze onto their limbs while he spoke.
"After Ultron, I got over that. The being scared of starting a family with you. And when I got over that, I also realized that having kids would be a mistake. I mean, what was I thinking, wanting us to bring babies into the mix? I'm a fucking superhero. Might as well put a bullseye on my offspring's foreheads and hand them to my enemies on a silver platter, right? Killian, he… he almost took you away from me. When I thought he did, it broke me…"
Tony shuddered, took a moment to collect his next thoughts, and then locked eyes with the redhead.
"The thought of it happening to my entire family… knowing you and the kids were targeted by some lunatic because of me… I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. I thought… God, I thought so many things! I thought the Accords would make it easier. I thought the Accords would keep me from killing other kids, including my own. I thought I was out of the woods. I thought we could make it work… I thought you thought it too…"
His eyes fell then, straight back to their hands.
"But then you ended it. Called me out on my hypocrisy. My bullshit. You got tired of my indecision and waiting. You got tired of what I was tired of about myself. Except, you did it before me. You… you put up with it without having to. And I pushed you over the edge."
Slowly, Tony pulled his hands away from hers and stood up from the couch, his back to her. He gave a long, hard look at the room, at the aftermath of their ruse with Yolandi Venter, and then sighed.
"And now, you're here. Doing more things for me. For everyone else. While putting yourself in danger. Doing what I did. And I finally see how hard that must've been for you. Watching me put on that suit and take off on you. Seeing a city almost fall on me…"
"And you're gonna watch me go through with it, too. Just like I did," Pepper said with determination in her voice. "And not for payback either. But because you did things for me out of love. Many things. Dangerous things. Far more dangerous things than dealing with a little heatstroke or taming a beast in high heels. Just like you just said. You did it for me. And I will do things for you, too. Whatever they are. Because that's what we do."
Tony closed his eyes and hung his head, willing her words to go away. He did not want her to do these things for him. He just wanted her to be safe and protected and cocooned in bubble wrap inside an Vibranium vault. It was not too much to ask of her, right? He would even make sure the damn vault had A/C…
"It's just a couple of days. It's not the end of the world. She just one woman. And I kicked Aldrich Killian's ass, remember?" he heard her say as she wrapped her arms around his torso from behind him, her cheek pressed against his back.
While high on Extremis, Tony wanted to add, but he knew that this was not the point she was trying to make, so he swallowed it down. Pepper was strong and resourceful, in her own right. Perhaps not with superpowers or a high-tech armor, but she had her plays. Her set of aces up her sleeve. A way with words and with people that allowed her to be as influential as she already was. Yolandi Venter was smart. But she was also just a sad woman looking for attention. Someone who was trying to prove herself and her worth by taking away from others what she could not have. Just like Christine Everhart. Or any other reporter or business competitor that had tried to tarnish the ginger's reputation by attempting to catch her unsuspected or in a lie.
When Tony did not say anything else and remained motionless, Pepper slowly circled him so that she could stand in front of him, her arms now around his waist. She tilted her head down and to the side, angling it so that he could tell that she was trying to make eye-contact with his crestfallen form. It took Tony a few seconds or so, but he finally gathered enough courage to admire those bright blue eyes of hers. She gave him a one-sided smirk with a strange twinkle in her eyes – one that became the only warning for him before she closed the distance between them to press her lips against his.
Tony was shocked by the move, not at all having expected it unless they were putting on a show for the masses when outside. He hesitated longer than anticipated in responding, which took Pepper slightly aback. Yet, she instantly pushed all doubts aside and intensified the kiss by lightly biting on his lower lip; telling him that she wanted this and that it was OK to kiss back. It was all it took for Tony to finally catch up with the situation and give back as much as he received, tangling his fingers in her hair in the process and tilting her head back. Moaning loudly when she invited his tongue into her mouth. Tasting the flavor of the lemonade she had sipped earlier on. It was all so real and so perfect. So familiar and calming, and yet so new and exhilarating at the same time.
Her kisses were firm and her pose welcoming and relaxed, yet she felt a little wobbly as well. It was then that he realized that she was probably relying on his strength to remain standing, probably still feeling weak and dizzy as fuck. He considered ways to ease her efforts, but none of them were appropriate right now: taking her to their bed and laying down on her; taking two steps back and have her straddle him on the couch; lifting her in the air so that her legs embraced him and then push her against the wall. All these methods would resolve the wobbly issue, but they would also yield a shitload of other worse issues on their own.
Thankfully for him, he did not have to continue wondering what to do next. Pepper made the choice for him. For them.
She slowed down the kiss to a stop. Pulled away from his face so that her forehead rested on his chin. Inhaled and exhaled deeply while her hands cradled his head. And then, once her breathing returned to normal, she uttered a single phrase.
"Thank you."
Tony was taken aback. "What, uhm… what for?"
"For everything. I didn't… I never realized how much you did for me. And I never got to thank you for all of it. I just did. I hope."
"Oh," Tony swallowed hard. "I… well… uhm… was that… was that, like, one big thank you, or the first thank you of many?"
Pepper's chuckle was followed by one of his, her head slightly shaking from side to side.
"Tony–"
"I know. I know," he conceded. "But you know me. Couldn't help myself there, Pep."
"I know," she admitted, her palms landing on his bare chest, reminding her that he was half-naked, the thought almost sobering her.
Almost.
"Take a nap before we have to deal with the next meeting with the Minion from Hell?" she asked, hoping a change of subject would help her keep it in her pants.
"Only if you promise that the next time we write her correspondence, that you'll address her just like that."
Pepper pulled away from him to laugh aloud, bringing out a satisfied smile of his own.
"You know what?" she began as she pulled her with him towards the bed. "It might just be worth the shit storm."
A/N: Hi, all! I'll stop making promises of when I can update, because I'm starting to think my promises are tempting Satan to make a liar out of me (two weeks ago, my mom tried to commit suicide. Then, this week, my husband got into a car accident). Everything is better now – or as much as it can get after that. I hope this chapter and the little fluff we got in here makes up for the long-ass wait and slow update time. I re-wrote this chapter at least ten times and I'm still not happy with how it turned out, but I hope you enjoyed it. I moved a scene to the next chapter (the one where Happy tells Tony something about the marriage), and the ending here took a different turn than expected. I was going to show more of this crazy-ass woman and her antics, but realized she's not worth the trouble. We all know how cunning our couple is, and I think it's safe to assume that they made her look like a fool. Thanks again to all of you for continued support in whatever ways call your heart (favorite, follows and/or reviews). It's the one encouragement that can make shitty real life feel less suffocating and rough. Until next time, my Faithful Readers!