Chapter 1
The humming of the machine under his face woke him up, but he lacked the will to lift his head just yet. He could already feel the skin on his cheek resembled the shapes of the knobs he had fallen asleep on, but he had at least not drooled on the controls this time around. After staring into nothingness for a minute he finally sat straight and it was then that his body complained about the position he had passed out in last night.
He moaned as he stretched his limbs and back to pop some of the kinks he had acquired overnight, and when he lifted his arms above his head he realized he was due for a shower…among other things. His hand then touched his face and evidence of the need for a shave was imminent. The prickly hairs sticking out of his pores that always grew out of control when he was too engrossed in his work only served to remind him that she had never liked him with facial hair.
Pepper.
His eyes moved up to stare at the radar on the uppermost right corner of the screen. As everything single time he had seen it since his last battle with Gene and the Alien Guardian, the radar had nothing new to report. Tony covered his face with his hands and rubbed it vigorously. Was this his reward for helping save the world from an invading alien species? Why was it that everyone else involved had not lost the person closest to them but him?
Then again, his sentiment was not entirely fair or accurate; Rhodey had also lost Pepper and so had Pepper's dad. Rhodey had known her longer than Tony had, and Pepper's dad...
He hates me, he thought, leaving his feelings of guilt out of the complex equation for now. The world had not found out the true identity of Iron Man and his team, but Pepper's father and Rhodey's mom had found out about it when Tony had walked up to them after the battle to confess that Pepper was gone. The look on Pepper's father's face would haunt him for the rest of his life, but not as much as the image of seeing Pepper for the last time, being taken away from the life she knew while he just laid there and did nothing. It took three weeks for the bruise in the shape of Virgil Potts' fist to disappear from Tony's face, and Tony was certain he would have taken more hits from the man without defending himself had Roberta not stopped the angry father from jumping Tony.
Nonetheless, after only three months of searching for her, Rhodey had gone off to the Air Force Academy, just as he had said he would. Virgil Potts had gone as far as having a memorial service for Pepper, claiming that if by this point she had not been found, she would never be. Needless to say, Tony did not attend the service and instead spent the night in his Iron Man suit, blowing up abandoned buildings wherever he found them on his trek around the world.
After the memorial service – which had happened a month ago – everyone else appeared to have moved on. Tony, however, had postponed his enrollment into MIT despite his father's protests, and today – exactly six months after the guardian had taken Pepper to who-knew-where, Iron Man found himself mostly alone, living in the Makluan-Temple-turned-laboratory-turned-apartment, living off the money of his own start-up company.
It was not as if his father had taken away his inheritance, but the more Tony continued his incessant search for his friend, the more Howard Stark had meddled in his son's life. Everyone told him – even the almost always clueless Happy Hogan – that pushing himself to the verge of exhaustion was not going to bring Pepper back any sooner or at all. Tony refused to listen, to believe, that if he did not work his hardest, Pepper would be more quickly returned to them.
To me, he thought. How people expected him to just move on with his life after what had occurred was beyond him. Even today he was not sure how he had managed to stay on-task during the final battle with the Makluan army, but he had somehow endured the ordeal regardless of the pain in his heart. Gene's words had already woken him up one too many times during his restless nights, mocking him and his ability to place those he cared the most in danger.
"Do not blame me for your shortcomings, Stark. If he took her, it is all on you. You're the one who brought her here." Khan had told him.
God, he hated it when Gene Khan was right!
He slammed his palms on the machines and stood up. He turned on his heels and made his way toward the shower he had installed just a little over a month ago, taking off his shirt and tossing it haphazardly on the floor. Five minutes later he was out, fully clothed in clean jeans and a t-shirt, and back at staring at his screens.
I can't believe Gene just gave up on the last ring, Tony mused as he reviewed the last thirty days of Makluan energy signals. He is the key to finding Pepper, and now he decides to not use the rings at all.
Tony was not sure what the Alien Guardian had planned to do to stop Gene with Pepper's help, but he doubted it was pretty or without risk. Pepper was not accustomed to being the damsel in distress as she had pointed out to them on several occasions, but that did not mean she was ready for a fight against Gene. Even the Guardian was having trouble in the end to stand his ground against the Mandarin, and Tony shuddered to think the lengths the protector would go to assure Gene was no longer in possession of the rings of power.
He stared at his watch and realized it was near noon; he had slept the morning away. His stomach was asking for sustenance, and it was now he remembered that he was yet to stock up his fridge with food. With a swift move of his arm over the floating screens he brought up the list of fast food places he frequented. He picked one at random and pressed the speed dial button for the restaurant.
"Jojo's Pizzeria. May I take your order?"
"Hey, it's Tony Stark."
"Hello, Mr. Stark. The usual, I assume?"
"Yup."
"It will be ready in 20 minutes. Are you going to come pick it up again? You know we deliver free of charge."
"Yeah, I know, but I'd rather stop by."
"Alright, Mr. Stark. See you soon!"
The call ended and Tony sighed. He stood up and walked toward the exit of the lab. He picked up the keys to his new car on the way out. The drive to the pizza place would not take long, but he decided to take the scenic route today; it was not as if he had anywhere else to go or anyone to meet.
xxxXXXxxx
And hour later he returned home –or what his home was: the lab. In one hand he held the box of pizza, and in the other a six pack of sodas. The automatic door opened immediately as soon as it detected the incoming individual, before closing behind Tony with an almost inaudible swoosh.
"Honey, I'm home," Tony uttered without much enthusiasm to the emptiness of his lab.
"Welcome home, Mr. Stark," his computer responded in its robotic tone. He placed the pizza box and the sodas on the closest table, dragged a chair and dropped his body into it. He opened the box and turned it around so that the cover served as an impromptu plate. He grabbed one of the slices and placed it on the cardboard so that his hands were free to unscrew the cap of one of the soda bottles, and then grabbed the slice once again.
"I hope this is not what you eat every day, Anthony."
The slice of pizza that had almost touched Tony's lips was dropped back on the cardboard/plate, splattering the melting cheese all over the place. Tony grabbed a paper towel and cleaned his hands from the grease. "I hope this is not all you stopped by to tell me, Dad."
From the living area of the laboratory appeared Howard Stark, dressed in his always impeccable attire. He took slow steps toward the table where Tony sat, silently noting the disarrayed look of the teenager. "No, I just came to check if you were still alive. I haven't seen you in two weeks, son."
"Yeah, well. I've been busy."
"So it would seem."
Tony looked up to stare at his father, and then looked down to the now suddenly not-as-tasty looking food. "Why are you here?"
Howard shrugged lightly as he walked to the computer monitors, which were hard at work tracking even the slightest hint of Makluan energy. A quick scan of the reports Tony had left on the screen showed the nonexistent progress the boy had made in finding the whereabouts of Gene, the Alien Guardian or his friend Pepper Potts.
"You are hairier than I was at your age. Gonna shave any time soon?"
This was as much as Tony was going to take today. He stood up from his chair and walked up to his father, blocking from him the images he was reviewing on the computers with snap of his fingers. At the boy's command, the screens disappeared, allowing Howard to return his attention to his son. "That was not really necessary, now, was it?"
"YES. Yes, it was. Are you here to lecture me or just to tell me how shitty I look?"
"If I say both, would it make me sound ambitious?" The father jested in an attempt to calm his son's rising anger.
"I wouldn't expect anything less, Dad. Leave it to you to just keep on reaching." Tony responded, emphasizing the title of his father in a way that was meant to insult him.
"Well, that's not really fair…"
"Isn't it fair? You want to talk about fair?"
"Tony, you're blowing this out of proportion."
"No, I'm not! You think you can talk to me about fairness? Is it fair that you, Rhodey and everyone else just goes back to their merry lives when Pepper is going through who-knows-what in who-knows-where?"
"Son, we don't even know if she's alive."
"SHE IS!"
"Well, if she is, do you think she'll want to come back to see you like this?"
The retort that had been forming in Tony's lips died with his father's words. The shocked and almost submissive look on the young man's face told Howard his question had struck a chord within his son. Howard was no fool or blind to the obvious feelings his son harbored for the spunky, fiery redhead; however, whether these feelings were of strong friendship, guilt or actual love, he was not sure.
Tony's shoulders slouched, his entire posture that had been rigid in anger just seconds ago collapsed. The distant look in his eyes pained Howard, but someone had to start shaking Tony back to reality: a reality where Pepper Potts was no more. When Tony did not move from where he stood and barely made a sound, Howard walked up closer to him; his hand on Tony's shoulder the only thing that seemed to snap Tony out of his reverie.
"Tony, son, I know it's hard to lose someone you care for. When I lost your mother…well, it may not be the same situation between you and Pepper, but a loss is a loss. I understand how you feel."
The young man could feel tears forming, but he refused to cry them in front of his father. He shut his eyes tightly and pulled away from Howard's touch. Tony walked away from where his father's eyes scrutinized him for signs of understanding, opting to abandon him and the food for the quietness and loneliness of his room. The locking mechanism kicked in as soon as Tony went inside his living quarters, leaving behind an even more concerned Howard Stark in its wake.
xxxXXXxxx
The weatherman had predicted a light chance of rain, but as expected with Mother Nature, the actual result bordered on a Category 1 storm. The wind was howling so loud against the reinforced Makluan temple that Tony had never been more grateful for taking the time to upgrade the ancient structure to withstand the rough use it endured on a daily basis. The power in the building had already failed an hour ago, but thanks to his backup generators Tony had at least one more week of power inside the building –which was plenty of time for the electric company to restore the service after the sudden storm.
The young genius was now back to the main room of his lab, eating the cold pizza straight from the box and washing it down with warm soda. The food should have been hot and the drink should have been cold; the irony not lost to the billionaire. He could have easily heated up and chilled them both in an instant by using one of his latest inventions, but he felt too lazy to even bother taking the extra ten steps to the kitchen. He would probably finish the pizza tonight anyway, and the rest of the drinks could go in the fridge in the morrow.
With a swipe of his hand a Doppler radar image of the current weather appeared before him. The storm was only halfway done with the city, and according to his calculations, he still had at least an hour of pouring rain, thunder, lightning and…
"Hail," he mumbled when he picked up on the distinct sound, which matched the latest severe weather warning that was just now popping up on the screen. Tony sighed loudly as he stood up from the chair, wondering how much damage his roof antennas would have in the morning, and stretching his arms high above his head. He then let his arms fall to his sides at the same time a loud rumble was heard from the entrance of the building, causing the teenager to look over his shoulder and narrow his eyes toward the door.
"Damn, this is getting bad. I wonder if it looks bad, too."
Taking his chance with the extreme weather, and having nothing better to do, Tony began walking toward the gate. The multiple doors opened one by one as he neared the final exit of the lab. The closer he came to the last entrance, the louder the sounds of the outside roared, leaving Tony wondering if he should have put on his suit of armor first.
As he stood before the final door, three loud bangs caught his attention. He expected the hail to hit the building with a high force, but he did not expect the noise to resemble that of a knock. Tony placed his left ear on the metal door and rested his palms on the sides of his head. He held his breath for a few seconds until the three consecutive knocks were heard once more.
"What the hell? Did my Dad come back?"
The security camera was of no use to him right now with the intensity of the storm, and he made a quick mental note to add infrared or even x-ray visions to it. His right hand flew to the keypad to press in the override code of the lockdown he had forced himself to be in after his father left, fearing he would return twice in one day to scold him. The double-beep of the keypad told Tony the door was now unlocked, and the man immediately stepped out to the mercy of the storm.
"Who's there?" He placed his left hand on his forehead and over his eyes, and squinted them as hard as he could to try to see in the rain. The night was pitch dark, and the water hitting his eyeballs made him close his lids before he could really tell what was in front of him. When a bolt of lightning hit the ground unnervingly close to him, he decided he had had enough adventure for the day and took a step back into the protection of the room. As he turned on his heels he felt a cold grasp on his left foot, startling him half to death and provoking him to kick away whoever or whatever had ahold of him.
"What the hell? Get off me!" He tried to pull himself away from the vice grip but it was relentless, causing Tony to stumble on his feet and fall hard onto the floor. His breath hitched as he turned around to face his attacker who still had him by the foot. The form came into the light of the lab entrance and it was only then that Tony stopped his squirming.
Before him on the floor was a woman on all fours, holding onto his ankle as if her life depended on it. The long hair covering her face in conjunction with how soaked she was reminded Tony of that movie where the characters –after watching a cursed video – were visited and killed by a woman that looked very similar to the one in front of him. The female movie killer, however, had black, unkept hair. This particular one had red hair, and did not look as if she had been hanging around inside a well for many years: pruny, purple and gross.
"T-Tony," the raspy voice of the woman surprised him, but did not deter him from leaning closer to her. She had finally let go of his foot and seemed more concerned in finding her voice than in taking him back to her scary well.
"T-To-ny…help…me…"
Tony scrambled to his feet and kneeled in front of the woman. When an even louder and brighter duo of thunder and lightning made her visibly flinch, the genius grabbed the girl from under her arms and pulled him towards her before ordering his computer to close and lock the door behind them. The hiss of the metal door hitting the steel frame was the only noise in the room for five, long seconds.
The girl in Tony's arms was cold as ice, her teeth chattering as hard as her body trembled in his grip. Stark's reaction to her obvious discomfort was to embrace her tighter, shifting her body so that she was surrounded by his arms, chest and legs. When the girl did not attempt to push him away and instead pressed herself closer to him, Tony's left hand moved to her head, pulling away her hair on her face to reveal a pale-looking, freckled girl.
His freckled girl.
"Pepper?"
A sigh of relief was the only response she gave him before she went limp in his arms. Tony stared back at the now closed door with wide eyes before he returned his gaze to the gem in his arms. He hugged her even tighter than before as if to convince himself she was truly there, and rested his chin on the top of her head. He hyperventilated the shock out of himself before slightly pulling away from her once more, her words echoing in his mind.
"T-To-ny…help…me…"
And help he was going to provide.
A/N: Pretty predictable, I know, but it's still fun. Who wants to find out what happened to Pepper while she was gone? Read on, and don't forget to drop me a line.