Happy Holidays, everyone! Thanks again for all of the reviews and keep them coming! They are what keep me (and I'm sure every other author on this site) writing and inspired. Cookies to all of you!
Tony sat on the edge of his leather computer chair, his leg bouncing incessantly. His brow was scrunched in that way Pepper knew meant he was pissed. His eyes flew back and forth as he read and reread the files on Phoenix, glaring as though he thought enough concentration would make the picture on screen confess its guilt then and there. After a few moments, he swept his arm across the desk with a tortured yell, the mug of coffee he had been carefully sipping now shattered on the floor.
"GODDAMNIT!" He shouted. "DAMN IT ALL!"
Pepper quickly made her way across the room and reached to put her hand on Tony's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. He threw his shoulder out of reach, his face red with rage.
"Tony, you need to calm down!" Pepper said, a look of concern and shock on her face.
He turned to face her, giving new meaning to the term 'death stare'. "DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! DON'T TELL ME TO TAKE A BREATH, OR DRINK SOME WATER, OR TAKE A FREAKING NAP! JUST DON'T!" His fists clenched, he looked frantically around the room and made his way to the wall on his left. There was a short pause, and then he punched a hole in the plaster with a short yell. Pepper gasped as he stood there, his shoulders pumping up and down as he tried to catch his breath. He carefully removed his fist, now bloody around the edges, and rested his head on the wall left above the hole, his breathing haggard and rough.
Pepper took a step back. She'd known Tony for years now, and she'd been there for everything; his father's death, the abduction and torture in the Middle East, and even more things she probably wasn't supposed to know about. But never before had she seen him this angry, this guilty, this… helpless. She didn't have the first clue how to help him in all this, and the fact that he refused to talk didn't help matters. But she knew enough to give Tony a minute to collect himself, so despite the fact that every muscle in her body was aching to run over, hold him and never let go, she stood her ground.
"Pepper… something's wrong. I don't know what, but I can feel it." The low murmur of his voice broke the silence. "I can't just wait here for Cap and Thor to try and rescue Bruce. I can't just sit here and "do more research" on other possible suspects. I need to do something. If Bruce is hurt, or….." His voice broke off, as though he couldn't bring himself to vocalize the possibility that Bruce was killed. "It would be my fault. I shouldn't have called him a coward. I should have made sure that the Tower's security was good enough. I should have heard the intruder and saved him."
"Tony," Pepper began, but Tony raised an arm to quiet her. Turning from the wall, he kept his eyes down and refused to make eye contact.
"Don't tell me it wasn't my fault. It was Pepper, and you know it."
With a swift move over to where he stood, Pepper grabbed the sides of his face and forced his eyes up to meet hers. "Look, Tony," she said, exasperated and distraught that he was so miserable, "I won't keep trying to make you believe that it wasn't your fault. That's something you have to realize on your own. But dwelling on it won't help Bruce, and it won't help you. Right now, the best thing you can do to help Bruce is try to find out who has him. Steve and Thor are checking out the possible suspects right now."
"And I should be there!" Tony said, the anguish fading from his face and melting into anger again. "I can help, I can-"
"No, Tony, you can't!" Pepper shouted. The room grew silent. She took a breath and pressed her hand against her forehead, trying to hold herself together. "Tony, you're a mess right now. Do you have a right to be? Absolutely. But right now, even you have to realize you're dangerous. You aren't thinking clearly, and if there's even the tiniest hint that one of the men is hiding something…"
Tony scoffed bitterly. "What, you think I'm going to go psycho and try to kill him then and there? I have some self-control; I'm not just going to go around punching things!"
"You mean like the wall?"
Tony's mouth grew thin and tight. No matter how he denied it, he knew she was right.
Pepper looked up into his eyes, copper with golden flecks around the edges. Usually there was an air of whimsy to them, the crinkles around them always prominent from his perpetual smirk and laughter. No longer did they crease around the edges; rather, they had grown steely and cold, walling up his emotions from the rest of the world. The light that seemed to emanate from his being was gone, and Pepper pined for the Tony Stark she remembered.
They stood there for what felt like forever, neither knowing what else to say, when suddenly, Jarvis' voice filled the room.
"Sir, there's something I think you should see."
With a faint furrowing of his brow, Tony turned to the computer screen he had been using. As Pepper watched, his expression went from that of intense confusion and concentration, to one of realization and shock. "It can't be…"
"What is it?" Pepper inquired, both hopeful and fearful of what Tony might show her.
"It's a connection. I know who took Bruce." He jumped up from his chair and ran to the elevator. "Jarvis, bring me to the garage. It's time to get the suit on."
"Wait, Tony! What do you mean-" Pepper was cut off by the close of the elevator's steel doors as Tony raced to get his suit. Worried and confused, Pepper made her way to the computer screen to see what Tony had seen.
On the screen in front of her was a picture of a newborn infant and a woman, probably his mother, in a hospital bed. The boy had tufts of black hair and chocolate eyes, one of which seemed to have a faint stripe through the iris. The mother had cascading hair, dark like her son's, and couldn't have been older than twenty-five or so. Her eyes, like her son's, had the same faint stripe. Both were smiling and the mother had a look of pure joy on her face. Pepper smiled for a second, her maternal side unable to resist the cuteness that was embodied in the photo. But seconds later, her smile melted away and was replaced by confusion. What did Tony and Jarvis see in this picture that she couldn't?
Only then did she see the caption below:
Rebecca Walters, 24, holds her newborn son, Phoenix. Both show traits of the rare genetic disorder "Waardenburg Syndrome", prime examples of the defect's passage through genetics.
So it's Phoenix and his mother, Pepper thought. That doesn't mean anything. Although that woman looks familiar… Then it hit her.
"That's Bruce's mother!" she whispered in incredulity. Tony found the connection! That has to be who took Bruce! I mean, something like this can't just be a coincidence. We're getting Bruce back.
She smiled before she realized what Tony was getting into. Her stomach dropped as she flashed back to Tony's state of mind before he left. Tony was convinced it was Phoenix, and he had made it clear over the past several days that he intended to kill the bastard who had taken Bruce. He had been drinking nothing coffee and whiskey over the past week, so there was no way to predict how he would react now. Or, she realized with even more horror, if he could even take on the criminal mastermind. He was sick, in pain, exhausted, and physically drained. What if Tony wasn't able to stop Phoenix? The man had one of the most brilliant minds in the world… he was sure to have set precautions in case Tony or the others came looking. Tony was in serious trouble.
She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Steve's number as fast as her trembling hands could manage. As the phone rang, she rocketed to the elevator to get to the cars in the garage. Thank God Tony liked things fast.
After three agonizing rings, Pepper's prayers were answered. "Hello, Pepper," Steve said politely as ever.
"Phoenix's place, NOW!" she screamed.
She could practically see his head gently tilt to the side as it did when he was confused. "Pepper, we already checked there, and he seems clean-"
"TONY'S IN TROUBLE!"
"…On our way now."
Hanging up, she hopped into the seat of a particularly flashy sports car and threw her foot on the acceleration. She only hoped that she could make it there before something horrible happened to Tony... or Bruce.