Guest Review Responses
Thank you for the favorite/follow: kata-lolly.
Lena: Oh gosh :( This chapter hurt my heart for Tony. Like hurt incredibly bad. Pepper should've trusted him more. She always disliked when he kept things from her and here she was doing the exact same thing. – YES! This is exactly the main issue here (well, there are others, but this is the common theme here). Pepper is being a big, fat hypocrite. And she knows that now. Acceptance is the first step to recovery :)
stormtrooper1: Damn, this story! It's fantatic but it's breaking my heart. And, I realize Pepper thinks that the whole thing about not having kids is irreversible, yet if they can create life out of an AI, Vibranium and whatever Dr. Cho had in that crate, I'm sure they can find a way around what Pepper did to herself. Thanks for sharing! – Huuuuuh, that is totally true. I mean, I already have the ending in mind and it doesn't relate to super science but, yeah… you have an excellent point there. Thanks for reading and reviewing ^_^
PolishGirl: Even though this chapter made me cry I still loved it! I hope in the next chapter Pepper will tell Tony everything and I look forward what Tony's reaction will be. Please let them have kids! :D Hope for a quick update, don't keep us waiting too long! ;) – I hope this is a short wait? *hides* I'm working on the final chapter, too. I hope to have them up by New Year's :D
Stark13: I cried when I read your chapter ! So sad... But a very beautiful chapter. Really really impatient to read the end. Thank you so much again for your story ! – Your patience shall be rewarded! I can absolutely promise you that :)
Pepperonylove: It hurts so much! I wanna curl up in my bed and cry.
This chapter is sooooooo heartbreaking. Pls give us the next chapter so we could go back to happy Pepper and Tony. :P – No, don't cry! And, uhm, sorry… we have some more angst here. But this the worst of it. Pinky promise.
A/N: Kinda late, but I hope everyone had a great Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukah, and/or whatever other special occasion that you hold dear during these times (or even if you don't celebrate at all, like myself). Hold on to your seats, my faithful readers. The end is coming.
Chapter 16: Mexico City
Venice, Madrid, London, Pretoria, Dubai, Dhaka, Moscow, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and Brasilia: all the cities around the world they had visited since starting this trip. Being in every single one of them, along with the investors that lived within them, had provided Tony and Pepper with different personal experiences. And they had also taught them new things. New things about the business. New things about the circle of life. New things about themselves and about who they could become.
In Venice, Piero's terminal illness reminded them of how short life could be. How everything and anything you had ever worked so hard to attain could come to an end when you least expected it, and in ways you had not even considered. It had reminded them that, even if you had done everything right or had done nothing wrong, life would still do whatever it wanted to do, and that no action or inaction on one's part was a guarantee to gaining something great or of being spared something awful.
In Madrid, Raul had showed them the dark side of marriage, and what bitterness and lack of communication did to people who had once been in love enough to get married. People who had once had mutual dreams and hopes, including the desire to bring new lives into the world. He had also shown them what ignorance did to people. How it made them angry and stupid. How it made them do and say things that did not make sense for the sake of justifying their own shortcomings. Raul had reminded them that, most people at least, would much rather put down others and shove unfounded beliefs down someone else's throat than to take the time and effort to improve themselves. Blissfully ignorant people would rather go to crazy lengths to save face than accepting they were wrong.
In London, Jack had extended Raul's lesson of how bad marriages started. He had shown them the early stages of how marriages with shaky foundations led to bitterness, and how the appalling behaviors bled onto everything else that these ignorant, abusive and demeaning humans touched. In this case, Jack's denial and lack of acceptance that he was the reason why he could never procreate with anyone had led him to resent his wife and adoptive son. It had given him a poor excuse to fool around behind his wife's back; to use his money and power to try to exert dominance on his partners, personal and business alike; to overcompensate for his inadequacies and coercing them to bend to his will. It was despicable and not a great business practice, and it would someday come back to bite him in the ass. Raul had shown Pepper a future she did not want to be a part of: one where she and Tony lied to each other, for years to come.
Then, in Pretoria, Yolandi had taught them that Jack and Raul's sleazy and entitled attitudes were not something that could be limited just to the male gender. Yolandi was as manipulative and conniving as the other two previous investors were. In fact, she probably got away with more than Raul and Jack did, simply because it was difficult to believe that a woman – the gender that was perceived to be nurturing, comforting and understanding – would ever amount to doing the awful things men like Jack and Raul did. Not many people would believe that vile thoughts ever crossed the woman's mind, so it gave her an advantage over her male counterparts when using others to do her will. This advantage would too one day become the cause of her demise; when she least expected it, as well.
Dubai, however, had been an entirely different story. Abd al Jabbar had shown them nothing but kindness. He had reminded them of the power of good people who left behind great legacies and mutually-beneficial partnerships, and why it was best to nurture these relationships more than the more profitable ones that came from questionable individuals. Abd had trusted them right of the bat because his father had trusted them. Abd had not questioned their intent and contract because he did not believe that Tony and Pepper had ever given him a reason to do so. It was the complete opposite of the three previous investors they had met before landing in Dubai: a person who did not assume the worst from everyone and everything, and who had not preemptively attacked before being wronged.
Dhaka, nonetheless, had shaken things up for them yet again. Their investor had been nice and open – very much like Abd had been. He had also been receptive, and a fine example of a man fully devoted to his family and work. However, Pepper's captors had reminded them that not everyone used legitimate means to make a living – a tidbit that Tony had already known from firsthand experience: Obadiah Stane had made sure that he learned that lesson for the rest of his life. The line between doing what was right and doing what was necessary to put food on the table blurred sometimes. But in a world where everything, even basic needs, had a price, it was stupid to believe that people would not do what they thought was their only option to survive. Neither Tony nor Pepper thought that the need for food and shelter justified harming another human being, but satisfying these needs by any means possible was a hidden, unfortunate caveat of the system of money and trade. To ensure that enough resources were available for anyone who was willing and able to cover the costs for obtaining them, the excess population – the so-called weak and poor ones, had to choose between stealing, dying and finding extreme ways to make ends meet. And in between all that choosing, they ran the risk of being excessively punished for being born into a situation they had not asked to live with in the first place.
It was this harsh reality that had driven Tony's actions, once he had fully understood the power he held in his hands: the existence of inequity in the world and the unbalanced distribution of its resources. He could not fix everyone's problems everywhere – not in his lifetime, at least – but he sure as hell was going to try. He did not want to be like Jack, or like Raul, or like Yolandi. He wanted to be like Abd, like Param, like Mayako, like Greg, like Leonor, and like Federico. He wanted to put the right resources in the right hands so that others could benefit from the results. He wanted to leave behind the foundation of a future where no one went to bed hungry, went without shelter or medical care, without education or clothes. He wanted people to become the opposite of a quarter of the twelve individuals they were supposed to encounter during this trip. He wanted future generations to be like the other nine of the bunch, including the crazy motherfucker that had almost gotten him killed in a snowstorm.
Each one of their investors had gotten them closer and closer to fulfilling the purpose of this trip: gathering up the funds to support all the people that could carry out Tony's wish for the world. In fact, they had already secured even more money than they had intended to obtain. Which, in turn, had also lead them closer and closer to the trip's end, in Mexico City with Federico Robles. After that, it was a non-stop flight home to New York. And then, after wrapping up the last details of the business trip and debriefing the Board, this chapter of their lives would be over, for better or for worse. What had started as a simple brainchild of one of the Board Members had turned into a mostly positive, eye-opening experience for the two of them, despite their initial reluctance to be a part of it. Yet, like everything else in this world, all good things had to come to an end.
And, if the phone conversation with Happy a few hours ago had any merit, this particularly good thing could come to a rough end before it got the chance to become something better. Perhaps sooner than their meeting at the Per Se.
The thought of not being in the same space as Pepper after this journey ended made Tony look up from his laptop to stare at the ever-working redhead who was as focused on her tasks as ever. They had decided to take advantage of the eleven-hour flight from Brasilia to Mexico City to begin wrapping up the details of the trip, which entailed a lot of tedious tasks. They had slept for nearly half the trip. Had made love a couple of times after waking up. Had showered together, eaten, and were now spending the last couple of hours of the trip taking care of their respective parts of the boring side of business: paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork.
He continued to silently observe her for a few more seconds before he returned his attention to the screen before him. He was reviewing some of the projects the MIT students had already submitted to his R&D team, to choose a few examples that could be used to show the potentially immediate ROI of the funds the investors had agreed to contribute. Meanwhile, Pepper was reviewing the proposed budgets for said projects and was categorizing the expenses into the proper buckets for the final report. This was not work that was typically done by them – it was mostly just reviewed by them once it was all done by other people, but since they had been the ones up-close and personal with the entire team of investors, it made sense for them to simply do the work while still on the trip. It would be faster, easier, more accurate, and they would only have to check the numbers with themselves; even if his mind was half distracted with the problem Happy had brought up right before they had left Brasilia.
Can't catch a damn break!
The sound of work extended for almost half an hour more before they both decided that they had done enough. They had to get back to their seats and get ready for landing, anyway, so it was best to stop working when it made sense for them rather than halfway through writing down a thought. Their meeting with Federico Robles was to take place only an hour after they arrived at Mexico City, which meant the best course of action was to give their brains and bodies time to rest before facing the music yet again. It was going to be a quick visit to stay within the six-week range of travel time, but they felt they owed it to their last investor to be as professional and alert as they had been with Piero.
Silently and almost mechanically so, both Tony and Pepper strapped themselves to their seats. As soon as they were both comfortable, Tony held Pepper's left hand in his right one, and then rested both of them on his right knee. Pepper made no comment on the move, and she simply turned her head to the right to stare out the small window of the jet. After a few more moments of silence, Tony squeezed Pepper's hand to get her attention, and then spoke in a soft tone of voice.
"The reservation at the Per Se has been confirmed. Got the email this morning."
"Good," Pepper replied after a gulp, her eyes never leaving the window. "Thanks for doing that."
"Of course."
The words exchanged had been neutral and short – practically a casual conversation, yet they also felt heavy; their meaning loaded. Their last meeting at the Per Se was still fresh in their minds – and they had just voluntarily signed up to experience more of that awkwardness in a few days' time. A promise was a promise, however; and the ginger had promised Tony that they would one day talk about anything and everything that had been left unsaid or implied.
"Do you have an agenda in mind?"
Tony's sudden question threw her for a loop. "Huh?"
"An agenda. For brunch at the Per Se."
Pepper pursed her lips and shook her head, allowing herself a moment to control her emotions and not let her voice quiver with her response.
"Just what we said we would talk about last time we were there."
"Nothing else?"
"Nothing else."
"OK."
Tony swallowed hard and then absentmindedly brushed his fingers against Pepper's hand as he thought about the upcoming meeting, a million questions fighting to come out about it, but he pushed them all down. As much as he was dying to hear what she had to say to him about their future, he knew that it was neither the time nor the place to get a preview of the conversation she wanted to have. Forcing the time and the place had previously led them nowhere, and pretty fucking fast, at that. He wanted to do this, so much – to finally have this conversation with her. But he also wanted to do it right, this time around. The right time included different requirements, one of which being the conversation taking place AFTER telling Pepper about the unexpected little issue they now had with the most obnoxious woman in the world.
He remained quiet for a few more minutes; his mind fighting with his mouth and his heart. Was this the last time he would hold her hand in his? Was making love to her this morning the last of it between them? Was this going to be the last civil conversation they would ever have? Would this be the last opportunity they would have to ride the jet in peace? Surely, the flight back to New York was going to be even tenser than this final portion of the trip was, just because they both knew that going home meant talking about what they had been skirting around for months.
Whatever the case, the next few days would be long and tedious – just as the beginning of their trip had felt. He had thought that they were way past that after everything they had been through, throughout the last six weeks together. Yet, here they were: acting as if they had never been as intimate and close to one another as they actually were.
There was not just one elephant in the room that needed acknowledgement. There were so many that Tony was sure the plane could have collapsed due to these imaginary animals being cramped inside the tiny space with them. Nevertheless, worrying about it now or bringing up the obvious was not going to get them anywhere but to the start of another argument they could postpone for a few more days.
Then again, not everything had to become a fight between them. They had both grown in their time apart. Their separation had, much to his chagrin, been the kick in the nuts that he had needed to start truly squaring away his life before he could claim he was ready to devote the rest of it to Pepper Potts. He was certain that he was not alone in this – he was almost one-hundred percent sure that Pepper's perceptions and beliefs had changed, too. Otherwise, she would have not wanted to talk to him about it again, in such an official manner, at that. If things were still the same for her, she would have saved the brunch option and would have just told him their split was a permanent one with no muss and no fuss.
Time away from each other was certainly not the way he would have preferred to get to know himself better, but it was the way it had happened and there was nothing else to be said or done about that fact.
What it all came down to at the moment, was having the realization that this exact point in time was not ideal to talk about what was next for them in terms of a possible romantic relationship or lack thereof, and how the latter would affect the rest of their professional and personal lives – including the shitstorm that would surely befall them on Independence Day. What it was time for, though, was to make it clear to her that he was just happy as hell that she was around. Thrilled that she had stuck by him for these last six weeks in what could have easily been the road trip from hell, but that had ended up being anything but that. And, with only a few minutes of flight time before their landing and knowing that there would be a referee bell that would halt his overexplaining of his feelings for and to her, it did seem like the best time to share these thoughts with her.
For whatever it is worth.
"For what it's worth, Pep," he began, echoing the last words his mind had uttered, "I'm so grateful that you did this for me. With me. I know… I know you didn't like the idea of this trip, and that you didn't like what we had to do while on it, but you still did. And I… I'm just so very grateful that you did that."
The right corner of Pepper's mouth lifted even though he could not see her bittersweet smirk. She did not have to look at him to tell that his words were as honest and as from the heart as they could ever be – enclosed in such true appreciation and providing her with much more credit and respect than she believed she deserved of him after everything she had done to hurt him. What was done was done, however. Nothing would ever change that. Accepting his words for what they were was all there was for her to do right now.
"Of course, Tony. I told you I'd be there for you–"
"No matter what," he finished for her and smiled when she finally turned to face him.
"No matter what," she repeated with a curt nod.
"And I'll…" he forced himself to keep his eyes on hers, "I'll respect whatever your decision is in the end. I can't say I'll like it, but I'll respect it. This time, I promise that I will."
Pepper squeezed his hand and forced the smile to stay on her face. "I know, Tony. I know you will."
"No matter what," the inventor added as he returned the squeeze, just a second before their pilot announced that they had arrived.
xxxXXXxxx
"Talk to me, Hap," Tony whispered into his cell phone, taking advantage that Pepper was not currently in the room and that their investor in Brasilia was busy talking to her assistant.
"Oh, now you wanna talk? I've only been trying to do that for weeks!"
"Did you call to bitch or to tell me something important?"
"You know what I'm calling about."
Tony groaned. "I told you, Happy. I'm telling her when we land in New York. After we talk to the Board. It's just a few days away, anyway. We'll be home before you know it. We'll get this shit squared out. This is just not the right time, OK?"
"Well, it's gonna become the damn right time in about three fucking seconds, Tony. I came to your place to check up on things, and someone left a ticking timebomb at your doorstep. I have it in my hands right now."
Tony's eyes widened and he could barely contain the volume of his voice. He looked over his left shoulder to make sure that Leonor was still preoccupied assigning chores to her assistant and then returned his full attention to the phone.
"A bomb, Happy? What the hell are you calling me for? Call security! The Avengers! The FBI! S.H.I.E.L.D., for all I care! Get it out of my house!"
Happy exhaled, not at all sounding as alarmed as Tony clearly was, and then mentally slapped himself at his poor choice of words.
"No, Tony! Not an actual timebomb. It was a figure of speech. I meant someone left you something that's gonna blow up this shit all over your face. Before we hang up, probably."
Tony sighed in relief and rolled his eyes. Phone conversations with Harold Hogan were like having little heart attacks. He really did not need that many in his lifetime.
"Damn you, Hap! You suck at this. People like you are the reason messengers get shot. In fact, I'm sure that if we looked up the history of the phrase, we'd find a mugshot of your great-great-great-great Grandpa. On the ground. With a piece of paper in his hands. Shot."
Happy rolled his eyes even though Tony was not in front of him. The unseen gesture would come out in his tone of voice, anyway, he was sure.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Whatever. Listen, you're gonna have to tell Pepper before you guys come back. Someone left you a post-dated, to-be-printed issue of Vanity Fair with a cover that reads: Exclusive news from the Stark Empire – The Stark-Potts wedding is a sham! Proof and details inside."
"The Stark Empire," Tony nodded in obvious approval. "I like the sound of that. Think we can change the name of the company to that?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Focus, Tony!"
"Right," Tony cleared his throat. "So, what does it say inside?"
"Inside what?"
"The magazine! The ticking timebomb? God! Good thing it's NOT really a bomb, Hap. You'd be in bits and pieces right now, calling me from the afterlife, wondering how the hell you got there in the first place."
"Shut up, asshole," Happy grumbled as Tony heard what he could only assume were pages being turned. Tony practically held his breath while Happy mumbled random words as he read the article, only to then growl so loudly on the line that it made the genius briefly pull away the phone from his ear.
"So, what's the verdict?"
"They know," Happy sighed. "Someone at the courthouse sold out. They have copies of the documents I've been trying to send you so that you could sign them. They explain how everything is fake and illegal, and it also of course talks about shit that didn't even happen."
"Like what?"
"Well, for one, it says that Pepper had a miscarriage and that the would-be baby was the only reason why you proposed. Woman hasn't even been pregnant, for God's sake!"
"Right," Tony cleared his throat as low as he could to not give Happy any ideas that hinted at the truth being otherwise. Technically, as far as the inventor knew, Pepper had never really been pregnant. They had had a scare or two, but nothing had made it past that. Unless, of course, the person that he already knew to be responsible for this phony article had been right on the money while grabbing at straws.
"What else?"
"Are we totally gonna go past the fact that you don't sound very convinced of Pepper not ever being pregnant?"
"What else, Happy?"
"OK. So, we ARE totally gonna go past that. Alright. Uhm… it also swears that there is a pre-nuptial agreement that says that Pepper isn't gonna get squat from you unless she gives you a first-born son. What the hell? Why would you do that to her, Tony?"
"What?" Tony shook his head in disbelief. "The fuck you mean, Happy? I didn't do that shit! It's not real!"
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Got carried away there. Uhm… they also say that the trip you're on right now is a marketing scheme to announce the fake marriage so that you can use the publicity stunt to get more money into Stark Industries because the company is broke. OK, that I know is total bullshit. The profits have never been higher."
"Don't even care about that. Is there anything else about me and Pepper? Or just Pepper? I know Christine Everhart has been dying to get back at Pep, somehow."
"Christine… oh, shit! Vanity Fair. Oh, that bitch! Of course, it was her! Ugh! Why didn't I think about that? She must have stolen the documents from the court! If I ever see that woman again, I'm gonna–"
"Happy?"
"What?"
"What else does it say?"
"Oh, yeah. Right. Uhm… OK, there's something here about Pepper looking sick and old."
Tony scoffed, not for a single second believing that his redhead looked anything but desirable and hot. "Not everyone relies on botched Botox, Christine."
"And it says that you're looking for a younger woman to have your heir in case Pepper can't give you one in a year."
"As if!"
"And that if Pepper doesn't give you a baby boy, the fake marriage will be announced and annulled. And that you plan to blame her for it being fake."
"Are you serious? Are you reading Vanity Fair or the script for a shitty soap opera?"
"What's the difference?" Happy deadpanned.
"Good point."
"Ugh! This is so stupid," Happy lamented. "What do you want me to do, Boss?"
"Well, they probably left a note there somewhere, asking for what they want in exchange for not running the issue. Probably money."
"Let me check."
Despite his nerves being shot, Tony waited patiently while Happy grumbled and frantically searched for anything he might have missed that could give them a clue as what to their next step should be to solve this problem. Tony had no doubt that the magazine would ask for money – a rather exorbitant amount of it, too; as he knew that they were in bad shape. Vanity Fair had been suffering for a while now due to a truckload of bad rep it had earned after the editors had badmouthed Tony Stark via a hastily-written and inflammatory article, a couple of years back. How the editors had thought that talking shit about a man who had helped saved the world was good publishing was beyond him. Nevertheless, here they were and here he was, still trying to clean up the mess that was the result of having a one-night stand with Christine Everhart.
"Anything?"
"Still looking. Nothing stands out here, though. I don't see a ransom note or anything. Everything else is just junk mail."
"Mmhh," Tony scratched the back of his ear. "Maybe they'll tell me when we get back to the States. What's the date on the issue?"
"It's next month's. July… 4th. July 4th, 2016."
"Independence Day, huh?"
"Yup. Kinda ironic, I think. Or an attempt at being patriotic? Who knows? That woman is… just… oh…"
"Oh?" Tony raised both eyebrows at his friend's sudden change in tone. "What is it? What's oh?"
"I dropped something. Or, something fell of the magazine. I shook it. I… Shit."
"Shit? What's shit, Hap? What do they want? How much?"
"Huh…" Happy said, the item that had just fallen off the magazine in his hand, and then sighed. "Yeah, I found it. I think."
"You think?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I did."
"And? Damn it! Can you just tell me?! What does Christine want?"
"Well, they don't want money, that's for sure."
"So?"
"I could be wrong."
Tony rubbed his face with his free hand, wishing he could jump inside the cell phone to choke the news out of Happy. "Son of a bitch! Can you just TELL me? Pepper's gonna be back any minute! We're supposed to go back to the jet in twenty minutes!"
"OK! OK! Just… I could be wrong, all right? Just keep that in mind."
"OK. I will. Now. What. Is. It?"
"You," Happy Hogan replied, not seeing any point in beating around the bush any longer.
"I, what?"
"You, dumbass. She wants you."
"Do, what?"
Happy groaned. "There's a picture of you here. Not on the pages, but its own individual print. It was loose inside it."
"Is it a recent picture?"
"What difference does it make?"
"I don't know. Maybe, if it's recent, that could mean she just wants an interview? Just thinking aloud, Hap. Is it old or recent?"
Happy hummed. "Old, I think. Your hair looks different. Longer. Slicked back. Your facial hair is also weird."
"Weird?"
"You cut it differently now. You look… it kinda reminds me of… oh, wait… Huh… I think I know when this picture is from. Actually, I take it back. I totally know where you are in it."
"And where would that be?"
"Caesar's Palace."
"Vegas?"
"Yeah."
"What? She wants to gamble? For me to pay for her drinks or… oh… Wait… Oh, shit!"
"Yup."
"Vegas."
"Yes."
"Caesar's Palace."
"Uh-huh."
"2008?"
"Bingo!"
"She wants me to sleep with her?"
"Well, now that I'm sitting down, reading this article while you take your time coming to the same conclusion I've had, there's a particular line towards the end that you're gonna be very interested in."
"What does it say?"
Happy cleared his throat. "You know how this says that you want an heir and shit?"
"Yeah?"
"And how you supposedly wanted a younger woman if Pepper couldn't deliver?"
"Uh-huh?"
"It says that you have one already. A younger woman, I mean."
Tony groaned, the pieces to the puzzle coming together in his mind. "Let me guess…"
"I'll give you three guesses, but you'll only need one."
"Christine Everhart," both men said in unison.
"Look how that turned out," Happy shook his head.
"UGH! I can't… and she… ugh!"
"That's quite the story she got here. She admits that you and she slept together that night. And she says that she spoke to Pepper the next morning."
"She did. To get kicked out."
"According to this, Pepper told her that you had said you wanted to see her again. And that you've stayed in contact all these years."
"I don't even…" Tony sighed. "Does she really hate Pepper that much?"
"I think she hates you both. But probably Pepper more, based on what I see here. She has some nice things to say about you. None about Pepper, though."
"Of course not."
"Damn. This article is long. I'm on page two of fifteen."
"Figures. And you're sure that there's nothing else there to see? You sure there is no request for money? Hell, I'd give her my spleen right now."
"I'm sure, Tony. She just wants you. It kinda makes sense. I mean, she can't really have you, but all this bullshit here will make Pepper look bad. Really bad."
"That's what Christine is after, for sure. I… I've done things I'm not proud of, but I don't care. Pepper, though…"
"Smart woman," Happy said begrudgingly. "Spin this story to hurt her by it, and then hurt you by hurting her. Talk about holding grudges."
"Yeah," Tony's shoulders deflated.
"So, what're we gonna do? And don't you say: wait. We've done enough of that. This will come out in a few days, and Christine has nothing to lose when it does. Pepper does."
Tony sighed and sat in a chair, the will to fight this endless parade of bullshit was almost depleted from his system. From all the horrible things that a one-night stand could have caused them, this was the most annoying of all, simply because it affected Pepper in ways he had never dreamed of. At this point, given the circumstances, he would have preferred finding out that he had an illegitimate child somewhere… unless it was with Christine Everhart. Never with Christine Everhart. Tony shuddered at the thought.
As he considered the situation further, the answer to the predicament appeared to be right in front of him. This problem was something he had caused, but it would affect his redhead more than it would affect him. Perhaps, the reason why he was unable to instantly come up with a viable solution was because he did not have as much at stake as Pepper did. And not because he did not care enough about her, but because he could not make himself decide even more things for the ginger. He had done enough of that already, and it had only come back to bite him in the ass.
It was clear now. Obvious, even, what he had to do. It was best, the only option to proceed with, that the person who would be at the forefront of the attacks to be the one to make the final call; and also for his part in this to be doing anything that he could to ease the job. They still had a couple more days of business deals, anyway, and that still left plenty of time to hash it out with Pepper.
It would be enough. It had to be enough.
"I'll ask Pepper," Tony finally replied with a hint of irritation; resigned.
Happy was taken aback. "Are you sure? I mean: that's the right thing to do and all, but that also means you're gonna have to tell her about the marriage papers, too."
"Not really. Or not completely. They could be passed as fake for now. She just needs to know what Christine is up to. Just that. Or maybe I will tell her. It's kinda of a moot point now… I don't know… We'll see. And, I have to go. Pepper's here."
Happy groaned and then threw his arms in the air. "Fine! Whatever! I tried."
"You did great," Tony said with sincerity. "Thanks, Happy."
"Yeah. Yeah. Bye."
xxxXXXxxx
Pepper smiled and nodded along at whatever their investor in Mexico City was talking about; the local food before her long gone. The topics of discussion sounded a lot like stuff she could not follow, anyway, so her current non-verbal responses were enough. His conversation was mostly aimed at Tony, and she was just fine with that. She probably would not be able to follow the chat, even if she wanted to, as her thoughts were elsewhere, anyway – in New York, counting the seconds until she came clean with Tony. And in Dr. Adler's office; wondering what the hell was so important that the woman had started calling her work phone.
Just as it was the case yet again right now.
Pepper's gaze lowered as she silenced her vibrating phone in her hand with a press of her finger against the side button of it. She had five missed calls from the doctor, all made back-to-back and in the last hour or so. She also had ten unread e-mail messages in her work inbox, all from the doctor's office. Whatever it was that Dr. Adler had to tell her, it had to be huge.
Maybe, it was time to stop avoiding the facts.
The redhead's eyes lifted to stare at Tony and at Federico; the two men supremely engrossed in their conversation; too much so to notice what she felt was blatantly obvious on her face: nervousness and concern. They only had a few more hours to wrap up their meeting and they then would get in a plane to head back home. They were scheduled to arrive just a few short hours before the already planned board meeting, and then they would be free to go back to their regularly scheduled lives.
Technically, she did not have to wait much longer to talk to Dr. Adler, but all the signs were pointing at her needing to speak to her sooner rather than later. Perhaps even before they left Mexico City. Maybe right about now.
Her phone began vibrating once more, but this time the indicator was for an incoming text message and not a phone call. Pepper inwardly sighed and forced herself to read the text under the table, all the while stealing glances at Tony to make sure that he did not notice her piling anxiety.
"Call me, Pepper. We have to talk."
Well, that had been cryptic as shit. It reminded the redhead too much of the typical phrase spoken as the preamble to a breakup. Or any bad news, for that matter. Words she had spoken herself to others, in fact. They were as fun to say to others as they were to be told to oneself.
Before she could lose her guts, however, Pepper forced herself to reply.
"Is it an emergency?"
Pepper wanted to slap herself at her rushed response. What kind of stupid question was that? Of course, it was an emergency! Short of the doctor flying to the redhead herself, she had done everything she had been able to do get ahold of her.
Dr. Adler, it seemed, had no qualms in pointing out the obvious to her.
"Have you seen how many times I've tried to call you? It's important, urgent and time-sensitive. PICK. UP!"
Pepper bit her lower lip; her mind already concocting the worst-case scenario. Her heart skipped a beat, which made her hesitate for another long second as her fingers hovered over the keys before she finally started typing again.
"How urgent? Am I dying?"
"No!"
The immediate response made her sigh in relief, although the sound had also been loud enough for Tony and Federico to stop their chat and face her.
"Hey, Pep. You all right?" Tony asked, his eyes searching for what could have made his wife suddenly react this way. If he had not known her better, he would had assumed her long exhale had been due to boredom or exhaustion – perhaps even due to annoyance. However, he did know her better. Something had just startled her. Something big, it seemed.
"I'm fine," Pepper said with a smile, hoping that neither man picked up on her obvious lie. "Just Mom being dramatic. You know how she gets sometimes."
"Your mom?" Tony furrowed his brow. "Is she OK?"
Pepper waved her hand at him to shrug off his concern. "Yes. Just exaggerating. Everyone's fine. But I'm gonna call her right now, just to make sure. Is that OK?"
"Of course, babe," Tony said as he stood up to help her pull the chair away. "I'm sure Federico won't mind, either. Right?"
"Not at all," the man clarified, standing up along with Tony just because a lady was about to leave the table. The man was filled with old-school manners like that. They practically poured out of him. He was living proof that chivalry was certainly not dead. "I hope your loved ones are all right."
"They are. I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can. Excuse me."
Without another word, Pepper all but fast-walked towards the lady's room, which happened to be empty, in a rare stroke of luck. Even if there were only two stalls, and they were both clearly empty, Pepper took a minute to look around herself and take a deep breath. The live music of the restaurant was blaring outside, which would help cover her conversation in here, but it was also muffled enough by the walls and the single door that it would not get in the way of the conversation she was about to have.
Her eyes landed on a small padded bench that had been placed against the opposite wall where she currently stood before she all but ran towards it. She gingerly took a seat on it, took in yet another deep breath, and then redialed the last number that had called her. It only rung twice before it was picked up, and the only greeting the redhead could muster was a loud clearing of her throat.
"Pepper, are you there? Or did you just butt-dial me?"
"No, it's me," Pepper said, her lips suddenly feeling as dry as a bucket of sand. "It's me."
"OK. Are you in a private place? Are you sitting down? I need you to be sitting down."
"Yeah. I am. Both things. Private. Sitting down. You…" Pepper gulped, her hands shaking more than they had ever done so in her entire life. "Can you just tell me what's going on? What couldn't wait until I got back home?"
Dr. Alder sighed, very much dreading the conversation she was about to have with her patient. Granted, the problem she was about to share with her was not entirely her professional fault, but it was atrocious enough that she would take the error to her grave on a much more personal level. Or to the courtroom, probably, depending on how the ginger reacted. Whichever happened first. Or both.
"There is no easy way to say this, Pepper, so I'm just going to give you the short version first and then explain it real slow, all right?"
"All right."
"Your surgery was not a real success."
"W-what? I mean… what?"
"Your surgery was not a real success," the doctor repeated, slower this time, all the while fearing that if her patient could not get past processing the initial statement, let alone understanding it, there was no point in explaining what she meant by it. Nevertheless, time was of the essence, so she had to try.
"The surgery didn't do exactly what it was supposed to do. There was an issue with the paperwork. The surgery orders. An error made about what you requested to be done."
"An error?"
An error? AN ERROR?!
Pepper felt the blood rush to her feet at the single word that kept bouncing off the walls of her head; her brain taking its sweet time putting together what she was hearing and remembering who she was talking to. It was as if she had been suddenly put inside a large body of water, hundreds of feet deep, and every sound she could hear was muffled by the pressure of the dark pits she felt forced to be in.
An error. There had been an error with her paperwork. Something had been done to her during her surgery. Something she probably did not want. Something that was very likely not able to be undone.
The ginger breathed hard through her nose to ease the feeling of nausea that threatened to overpower her. The delicious food that she had enjoyed minutes ago wanted to come back out.
An error, she repeated to herself. What could be something that could be done to her other than what she had asked?
Maybe they didn't tie my tubes? The redhead pondered. Maybe I'm not infertile after all.
Maybe, her brain mocked her, she had been having unprotected sex with Tony for weeks, thinking she could not get pregnant at all. She had told Tony that she was still on the pill, which was not true, and since they both knew the other to be clear from sexually transmitted diseases, they had not even bothered with condoms either. She had been on the shot for a while, and she was yet to have a regular period for months now, but she had been told that it would be irregular for a while – even more than usual. The stress of her daily life had already made her cycles as random as they could be. She had thought nothing of her period being overdue for several weeks now.
No, Pepper closed her eyes and shook her head. No. NO!
Could it be that she was pregnant? Could she be carrying Tony's child?
Could she, ironically, be in the same predicament she had thought she had avoided? Was she being given another chance to make things right?
Pepper gasped loudly as the realization hit her – as thoughts that had plagued many sleepless nights came crashing back to her. She had regretted her decision for some time. She had hoped that she would wake up one day and she would not be infertile anymore. She had wondered what it would be like to be able to bear Tony a child. She had wanted it more and more once she had decided that she would leave up to Tony the choice to take her back. Because she wanted to work things out with him. She so wanted to be with him again and remain with him forever, if he could find it in himself to forgive her for what she had done.
She had planned to tell him this during their brunch at the Per Se. She had planned it all out in her head.
Now, however, if she were to be pregnant with his child, this would change everything yet again. This would make the decision unfair to him. What choice would the man have but to forgive his fake wife who was pregnant with his kid? What else would Tony Stark do other than to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions? Pepper was not concerned that Tony would not forgive her, if she was pregnant with his kid. What she did not want, however, was that child being the only reason that the genius tagged along.
She wanted to earn his forgiveness in a fair manner. She did not want the choice to be made for him by circumstance. He had earned as much. He deserved as much. If this relationship was going to work, and if they were to get back together and continue where they left off, they had to do so with their eyes and ears wide open, and with real choices placed before them. She did not want them to be a repeat of the failed marriages they had encountered during this trip. She wanted them to be as free of guilt and of a forced sense of responsibility when the time to decide presented itself.
Dr. Adler had remained quiet for several minutes now, allowing her patient to come to her senses before continuing her explanation of the situation. This was just the tip of the iceberg. The water and ice that lurked below the surface was much colder and deeper.
Once her mind gave her an opportunity, the redhead cleared her throat, signaling that she was somewhat ready for questioning the doctor's statement. She knew that no one would ever be completely ready for listening to one's doctor telling you something had gone wrong with a major procedure you had undergone. She might as well get it over with as quickly as she could.
Besides, Tony was still outside, waiting for her. Every minute she spent here would just make matters worse for him. And it would leave her with more things to explain that she was not sure that she could.
"So. There was an error. A clerical error, I guess? My tubes aren't tied, then, after all?"
"Oh, no. They are. You're still infertile, Ms. Potts."
Just like that, her world shifted again. Her hopes dissipated. Her heart broke. She was not pregnant. She could not get pregnant. She never would be again. Just like that, she had felt pregnant and had had an instant miscarriage, in half a second – or at least it had felt very much like that.
"Oh," it was all that Pepper could say, her voice full of disappointment.
"He got that part right. The rest… not so much."
"He?"
"Dr. Klein. Remember him? He filled in for me for your surgery when one of my critical patients went into premature labor?"
"Oh, yeah. I do. I…" Pepper gulped. "I was so drugged by then. It's kind of blurry, but I do remember you had to leave."
"Well, that's why it happened. The other part of the surgery. If it had been me, Pepper, I swear I wouldn't have done this to you."
"Dr. Adler, you're scaring me. Can you just tell me what he did? Do I need to have surgery again to fix whatever he did? Am I in danger?"
"No. You don't need any more surgeries. You're healthy, otherwise. And I… I can't fix what he did. No one can. I'm so sorry, Pepper. What he did is irreversible."
"What is it?"
Dr. Adler sighed. "He… he removed your eggs. All of them. He took out your ovaries. You're never having a period again. No ovulation either. We… we need to get you in here to talk about how we're going to regulate your hormones and other related functions. About the side effects of what he did. He… he essentially rushed you to menopause. We need to put you on a permanent treatment for what the surgery broke. I… I'm so sorry. So, so sorry, Ms. Potts."
If she had not already been sitting, Pepper would have landed on her ass on the floor. Quite abruptly and hard, too.
Menopause? Forced menopause? At her age? Long-term side effects? Medically regulated hormones? What the hell was happening to her?
"I'm sorry, Dr. Adler. Can you repeat that? Slower? And in other words?"
"Of course," the doctor began. "I… Dr. Klein was given paperwork that said you'd asked for your ovaries to be removed. No one in the medical field and in their right mind would go for this, because we know the increased health risks losing your ovaries cause. But when people have money, they can ask for whatever they want, and someone will give it to them. Another patient had requested this, despite plenty of advice against it, and her paperwork got mixed with yours. The surgery codes got swapped during data entry. I didn't know that it had happened until we were going over the medical records when the insurance company asked for more information on the medical value of the surgery you got while they were doing their own internal audits. I made some phone calls. Talked to the medical staff. I didn't want to call you until I knew it had happened for sure."
Pepper could hardly keep her hand from dropping her phone. She was trembling so much that she could have sworn that she was in the midst of a deadly earthquake. One that she almost wished would take her life right now, just so that she did not have to face Tony and her family anymore.
"So, what you're saying is that I'm, for all intents and purposes, a woman experiencing the change?"
Dr. Adler hummed her acceptance of Pepper's wording. It was, after all, the way older women referred to menopause. It was such a drastic milestone in a woman's life. It was, in fact, for many of them, the beginning of the decline of the quality of their lives. Some women found positive and productive ways to deal with the inevitability of the ending of their fertile age. Others, however, never found the best way to cope with it, and ended up alone and miserable until the last of their days. Divorces and separations were sometimes attributed to menopause, as if the women had any say in their biological clock and had purposefully set themselves up for failure because of it. It was not so widespread misunderstood anymore, but there were still people out there that refused to accept that the changes that a woman underwent after her periods stopped were outside of her control.
Dr. Adler closed her eyes briefly, recalling the reason why she had become an OB/GYN: losing her mother to the psychological effects of menopause. And losing her father to the myths of it.
For her part, Pepper could not believe Dr. Adler's words. She did not want to believe her words. She was not just infertile. She was infertile, experiencing early menopause, and had had her health altered for the worst in one go. She knew what the doctor was trying to explain to her. She knew how serious this was at her age. She had seen friends and family members struggle with the aftereffects of hysterectomies or with removal of ovaries due to growths or tumorous masses. She knew the quality of her life would be greatly affected by this, promptly diminished, utterly devastated…
…if she allowed it to be.
And, for fuck's sake, even right now, while having a difficult time accepting and processing the doctor's explanations, the redhead already knew that she did not want to allow it to be that way.
Hell, she was not going to allow it to be that way. She could not. She had no reason to. And she had every reason and resource to make it work. To make it better for herself. To fight back.
Yes. This sucked and it was completely unexpected and irreversible, and she had pretty much done this to herself. But that did not mean that it was over. That her life was over. No one that cared for her would allow her to give up. And neither would she.
Dr. Adler was correct, in the end: people with money could get whatever they wanted. She could get the best care in the world. She would get the best care in the world. And she would fight back.
"We can do this," the doctor suddenly said, as if she had somehow read the redhead's mind.
Maybe she had. Dr. Adler was Pepper's OB/GYN for a very good reason, after all.
Pepper was not alone. She had family and friends that cared for her – that loved her. She had Tony and Rhodey and Happy. She had her parents and her siblings. She had Dr. Adler and whomever else came along to get her life back on track.
She was not alone.
She had never been alone.
She was going to push back.
And she would start by telling Tony the truth. All of it. Not holding anything back.
Yet, for now, for the next day or so, she had to pull herself together, put on the business mask and get back in the game. The right time would come.
"Thank you, Dr. Adler," the redhead finally said after an extensive pause, her tone of voice filled with more conviction than she thought she had in her. "I will call you back."
"And I'll be waiting, Pepper. I'm here for you, no matter what."
Pepper smiled at the familiar, almost prophetic words before saying goodbye to the doctor and ending the call.
Suddenly, telling Tony about her situation was not so bad. Not so bad at all.
A/N: I know I just broke a LOT of hearts, but I did promise a happy ending. And I will deliver… I WILL DELIVER! Final chapter is next!