Chapter 4

Her legs gave up on her when she reached the exit of the compound; her eyes were now unusable due to the flow of tears. The sobs mercilessly racked her shoulders and by the time she realized she was falling, it was too late to stop. The images of her father in the hospital bed last time he had been beaten up when searching for Mr. Fix came back to her, and she doubted she could see him on the verge of death again. I should've tried looking for him right away! Why did I waste time?

Even though the rational part of her told her she had not wasted time, the guilty side of her blamed herself for not immediately finding her father's whereabouts as soon as she was conscious this morning. Not twenty-four hours had passed since her return, and she was already causing trouble for the ones she loved. She almost did not hear Tony catching up with her, calling her name, but she did feel his arms around her, pulling her up from the ground and cradling her on his lap.

"Sshh, Pepper. Calm down, he's gonna be alright. We're going to go see him, OK?" He whispered in her ear and rocked her back and forth. He kissed her forehead and combed her disarrayed hair with his fingers, but she seemed to be far away from Earth. "I promise, Pepper. We'll go over there today; we'll take my jet, and be there in no time."

Pepper held onto the front of his shirt with her fists and buried her head in the nook of his neck. She wanted to be there today, just as Tony had said, but she was also afraid of seeing him again. What if Virgil hated her? What if he was mad at her for leaving? What if he had already moved on after her funeral? Her questions were trivial, she knew, but he was all the family she had left; the idea of losing the last semblance of kinfolk she had broke her heart. "I can't lose him, Tony. I can't lose my dad."

If anyone in the world understood what it was like to lose a father, it was Tony Stark. And, if anyone in the world knew what it was like to fight your way to recover your father, it was Tony Stark as well. "You won't. We won't let him give up."

Taking the way her arms surrounded his neck as a sign that she was ready to move, Tony lifted her in his arms with the ease Extremis allowed him. He turned around in place and slowly walked back to the armory while carrying Pepper in his arms. Howard Stark was still inside and on the phone, presumably arranging for Tony's airliner to be ready for takeoff immediately. The older man spared his son and friend a quick glance before returning his attention to the conversation over the phone. One look at them, however, was all that was needed to confirm his suspicions that his son felt much more than just friendship for the redheaded girl, and that she reciprocated the feelings as well.

Without a word, Tony carried Pepper into his room and sat her on the edge of the bed. He walked inside the bathroom, grabbed a hand towel, damped it with warm water, and then returned to his bedroom with it. He kneeled on the floor in front of Pepper and began wiping her face clean of dust and dried tears as delicately as he could. "Did you hear my dad? The jet is waiting for us, but I can't take you anywhere until you pull yourself together, Pep. I know it's hard, but I'm not bringing you with me if you don't promise you won't hurt yourself with worry. It won't do your dad any good to see you like this."

For an instant after he had already spoken the words, the memory of his father giving him similar advice regarding his condition while searching for Pepper, returned to him. As always, the old man had been right; not that he would tell him about it, yet, but he had been correct once more. "So, you promise, Pepper? I don't like seeing you like this."

Pepper gave him a slight nod as she stood up from the bed. She grabbed the towel from Tony and lightly pushed him aside to make her way to the bathroom to finish cleaning her face up. "I'll be out in a moment. Do you have a bag I can borrow for my clothes?"

"It will be out here by the time you come out."

"Thanks," she mumbled and disappeared behind the bathroom door. Tony exhaled loudly, shook his head to regain his composure, and ran toward his closet. He slid the doors open and extended his arm to the top shelf to grab two travel bags. He placed them both on his bed. He unzipped the closest one to him and had begun filling it with clothes to last him for several days, when his father walked inside the room.

"The plane will be ready by the time you get there."

"Aren't you coming?"

"No, not yet. I'll let you kids get settled over there, first; she'll probably want some time alone with Virgil. I'll sort out some things here at SI and I'll take a flight there in a couple of days."

"OK." Tony placed his last set of clothes inside the bag. He opened the bottom drawer of his nightstand and took out a travel kit bag, dumped it inside the bag and zipped it close. He picked up the bag and swung it on his shoulder, walked around his bed and knocked on the bathroom door. "Pep, I'll wait for you in the car. We're driving straight to the airport."

"OK. I'll be out in a minute."

"Take your time."

By the time Tony turned around to head to the door, his father had already walked out of the room. He found him standing by the exit of the temple, clearly waiting for his son to stop by. Tony walked to where his father was, and spoke in a low voice to prevent Pepper from hearing their conversation.

"When did you plan to tell me you were keeping tabs on Virgil?"

"Around the same time you planned to tell me she was back."

"It just happened last night, OK? It's a long story, which I'm surprised you don't know about seeing as you were playing spy on her dad."

"I wasn't spying on him. I was making sure he was alright. I know what it feels like to lose a wife and a child."

Tony stared toward the entrance of his room when he heard the bathroom door open and close; he held his breath for a few seconds, expecting Pepper to show up but when she did not, he took a deep breath. He rubbed his forehead with his right index finger before looking up to stare at his father again; this time, his face seemed more apologetic and less accusing. "Thanks…for calling for the jet; and, for watching over Pepper's dad. And…I'm sorry…about yesterday."

"And I'm sorry for coming down on you so hard. Sometimes I forget how hard it was for me to move on after your mom left us."

"I was still a kid; I don't remember much of it, but what I do remember wasn't good." Tony agreed, memories of his father drinking himself to sleep returned to his mind.

"Just remember that the next time you decide to forget about taking care of yourself. Pepper's here now, and she can see what it does to you, and I doubt she was happy with what she saw." Howard pointed to Tony's now gone beard. "Think about what she will see when you let go. If not for me or for you, for her; I know how you feel about her, son."

"Is it obvious?" Tony scratched the back of his head, not even bothering to deny what he felt.

"Don't need to be a prodigy to tell."

The sound of Pepper's steps coming out of the room ended the heartfelt conversation between father and son, both of which turned their faces to the side to stare at the incoming girl. She slowly approached the exit of the lab and before any of them realized what she was about to do, she flung her arms around Howard, and hugged him with all the gratefulness she could transfer onto him. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

Howard was shocked for a moment but then his paternal instinct kicked in and he returned the embrace. "It was nothing, Pepper. When your dad wakes up, say hello to him for me."

Pepper chuckled and nodded on his chest. When she finally pulled away, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and frowned. "I'm sorry. I got your shirt wet."

Howard chuckled as he pulled the front of it with his index finger and thumb. "It'll dry. Now go see your dad. I'm sure he'll be just fine."

Pepper nodded, readjusted her travel bag and turned to Tony. "I'm ready."

Tony grabbed Pepper's hand in his left one, waved to his dad with his right, and led her to the basement garage staircase door. Pepper gave Howard one last thankful wave and nod before they rounded the corner to the staircase and disappeared. After they loaded the trunk with their bags, and after buckling up and starting the car, Tony ordered his computer to execute a lockdown of the building after he and his dad left the premises. As always, his computer complied.

xxxXXXxxx

By the time they arrived at the hospital in Los Angeles that Howard had told them Virgil was in, the last round of visiting hours was over –it had been nearly midnight. The fact had not stopped Pepper from finding out the condition of her dad, however, and she had been relieved when she had been told he had been lucky to pass out next to an off-duty paramedic, who had given him immediate first-aid, critical to reducing the damage the heart attack could have done to him. Tony had wondered, however, how much of the off-duty paramedic situation had been a coincidence, and how much of it had been his father's doing.

The wee hours of the morning found the teens walking toward an elevator in a hotel close to the medical facility to which Virgil had been admitted. The rush of adrenaline that had driven Pepper to stay awake for almost fifteen hours was finally retreating, leaving behind a tired-looking and sounding young woman. Her arms were snaked around one of Tony's, and her head rested on his shoulder while he helped her reach her room. He was also exhausted from all the commotion, but he had gone longer without sleep after patrolling the streets for hours; he could afford to make sure she was tucked in before he passed out in his own room.

He used her keycard to unlock the door, closed the door behind him, and carefully walked her to the bed. He had requested adjacent rooms with connecting doors in case she needed him. He would have preferred they shared a room, even if he had to sleep on the floor, if just to make sure no one came to take her again. He would not give Gene or the Makluan up for dead until he saw their rotting bodies with his own eyes. However, after the drama that had caused Virgil's heart attack in the first place, the last thing he wanted to do was give the media more ammunition to worsen the situation for all of them.

Tony helped Pepper lay on the bed atop of the covers for now as he pulled away from her and walked toward the sofa. He deposited both bags on it, and he then returned to the bed. He stood by her dangling feet and slipped off her shoes. He placed them by the foot of the bed, and now that his hands were free of obstructions, he walked around the bed to the opposite side from where Pepper lay. He pulled down the covers, walked back to Pepper, picked her up, walked to the opposite side of the bed, and tucked her under the covers. She was still wearing the same clothes she had left the boutique with, but he knew she was too tired to care right now.

After covering her with the blankets he returned to the sofa for his bag. He swung it over his shoulder and went to check up on the redhead one last time. He brushed her now-long bangs off her face before leaning down and kissing the top of her head. "Good night, Pepper."

She responded with a mumble Tony assumed meant "Good night, Tony," and he left the room after that by using the connecting door to his room. He sent his father a text message to inform him in which hotel they had checked in before he felt himself falling prey to a deep sleep. As he was losing consciousness, he patted the empty spot next to him on the bed and wondered how one night with Pepper by his side made it so difficult to for him to not have her there tonight. Unbeknownst to him, the girl next door was having similar thoughts about the absence of his presence in her bed.

xxxXXXxxx

Pepper stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror in the bathroom of her hotel room. She was wearing purple flats, skinny blue jeans, and a purple, silk tunic blouse with half-sleeves. Around her waist the blouse had a loose string made of the same fabric as the top, allowing her to accentuate her curves by tying it into a small bow on her right side. She held her long hair up in a ponytail, and her bangs fell to the sides of her face. She hardly ever wore makeup, but the long time away from home and the events of the last two days had her looking like a zombie, so she had added some concealer under her eyes, brushed some blush on her cheekbones, and put on raspberry balm to her lips. Satisfied that she looked presentable for her dad, she finished her ensemble by spraying some perfume on herself and putting her small wallet in her back pants pocket.

She exited the bathroom and headed to the connecting door, knocking on it three times before letting herself in. Tony was standing by the dresser, buttoning up his black, short-sleeve shirt above the white t-shirt he wore underneath. He left the last two buttons on the top open, not bothering to tuck in either shirt inside his jeans. He took a step back to pick up his black and blue tennis shoes from the floor and when he looked up again he saw Pepper standing by the side of his bed. He had heard her knock on the door but he had not expected to see her looking so…

"Wow," was all he could utter as his eyes stared at her up and down.

"Mhh?" She tilted her head to the side in her confusion, making her look even more endearing to him. He shook his head to dismiss his poor attempt at a compliment and walked by to stand next to her, cupped the left side of her neck with his right hand – his left still held his shoes – pulled her forward to him and kissed her cheek.

"Morning, Pep." He whispered to her as he sat down on the edge of the bed and concentrated on putting on his shoes. Pepper froze where she stood for a moment, surprised at his gesture just now, but when she remembered their almost real kiss of yesterday, she decided that his latest action had not been as blunt as the one they had almost completed the day before. Needless to say, both actions implied a serious conversation between them was due, but for now she had more pressing matters to tend to: her father.

Even though at the moment it seemed as if Tony was more concerned with tying his shoes than anything else, truth was that he was mentally slapping himself on the forehead. He had no idea what had taken over him just seconds ago, and while such physical signs of affection were not uncommon between them even before she had disappeared, he felt he had somehow overstepped his boundaries with her just now. He knew why he had done it, but he did not know why he had let himself go forward with it. The last thing he wanted Pepper to think was that she did not deserve a proper explanation of what he felt, and an opportunity to have a say on whether or not he was allowed to venture into territory only a significant other would be allowed to explore with her.

"How did you sleep?" He asked as he finished tying his shoes and stood up to walk to the nightstand to grab his wallet. "I was so tired, I just passed out."

"I slept well, thanks. Visiting hours are not for another two hours. Mind if we grab a bite to eat?"

"Not at all," he responded, walking toward her with a keycard in his hand. "This is yours, by the way. I took it with me last night by accident." He handed her the card and she accepted it, placing it inside her front pants' pocket. "Ready?"

"Ready." Pepper walked toward the door of his room and opened it. She waited as Tony gave his room one last glance to make sure he did not forget anything important and before he locked the door again he snapped his fingers.

"Wait, I forgot something." He ran back inside the room.

"What is it?" She asked from the hall.

Pepper's question was answered when he returned to the hall with a box in his hands. He handed it to her before turning around to lock his door. "Open it. I've figured you needed a new one, anyway."

"A new what?" Pepper asked as she opened the small box. The box was white and unlabeled, so it was not until she unveiled the device inside that she realized what Tony had meant. "Is this a Stark Pod?"

"Yeah, but it's my altered design. You can't find this type in stores. I created these ones just for you, me and Rhodey. I was going to surprise you guys with them when we returned from China, but…well…"

"Yeah," Pepper nodded as she gave his hand a squeeze. "Thank you, Tony." She smiled at him before letting go of his hand and busying herself with her new phone. Tony led the way out of the hall and into the elevator, all the while a small smile kept creeping up his face. He could get used to being with Pepper like this; he could get used to being around her all the time.

A/N: I miss being a teen :(