Chapter 9

After Pepper disappeared into the kitchen and his eyes could no longer follow her, Tony's pod rang loudly inside his pocket. He dug his hand inside it and took it out. A smile appeared on his face when he read it was a call from his brother from another mother and he gladly accepted the call. "Hey, Rhodey! Did they give you a few seconds to breath over there?"

"Well, someone sounds happy. What's the occasion?"

Tony shrugged even though he knew Rhodey could not see him. "Oh, nothing, just…"

"Pepper is there with you, isn't she?"

Tony chuckled loudly, catching the attention of the returning redhead. She returned to her spot next to him on the couch and silently asked him who he was speaking to with a tilt of her head. Tony winked at her as he pulled away the phone from his ear and pressed the speaker option. "Hey, someone you might remember from back in school just walked back into the room."

"What? Who?"

The inventor set down the phone on the coffee table and pointed to it with his chin. Pepper's eyes shone in excitement when she recognized the voice and the caller ID confirmed who it was on the line. She leaned down closer to the phone and squealed. "Rhodey? Oh, my God! Where are you? How are you? I missed you so much! Did you miss me? How's your mom? When can I see you again? Are you in town? What are you doing for Christmas?"

Rhodey's wholehearted loud laughter resounded in the room and it was shortly followed by the genius' own laughter streak. Pepper's pout was adorable to Tony, and his arms surrounded her in a side embrace as he kissed the top of her head. "How about one question at a time, eh, Pep? It's been a while since Rhodey's brain has been strained like this."

"Ha-ha! Very funny, Tony. At least you're laughing again. I thought you'd forgotten how to make that sound."

Pepper's pout turned into a concerned look at hearing Rhodey's words. Tony shook his head at her in a dismissive manner before he returned his attention to the phone. "Whatever, man! But, if you're still worried about me not laughing enough, send me a picture of your face so I have something to laugh at every day."

"Screw you, Tony!" Rhodey said with a laugh. "Anyway, of course I missed you, Pepper. I can't wait to see you and catch up. I'm stuck at the academy for now, though. But, I'll be there for an entire week for Thanksgiving. What are you plans for that?"

"I'm not sure, Rhodey. I have a lot of things to work out."

"I'm sure. Speaking of which, is your dad any better?"

Pepper smiled. "Yup! He might be released in a few days, actually."

"That's great news, Pepper. Are you feeling alright? Is everything OK with you? Tony better be giving you the royal treatment for the both of us or I'm gonna have to kick his ass."

"He's making me feel at home, so far. But, you know, he's still Tony, so…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Pepper. Not much we can do about that." Rhodey agreed, to which Tony threw his hands in the air.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Ugh! I have you two in the same conversation for two seconds and you're already ganging up on me?"

"See what I mean, Rhodey? Total Drama Queen." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry you have to calm the beast all by yourself, Pepper. I hope it's not too much work."

"OK, am I suddenly invisible or something?" Tony asked. "I'm right here, you know?" He emphasized his words by pointing to his position on the couch with his right index finger.

"It's alright, Jimmy," Pepper continued as if Tony had not just spoken, causing the scientist to pout and cross his arms over his chest. "I've learned a trick or two while I was gone. I think I can manage until you come relieve me of the daunting task in November."

"Oh, for fucks' sake!" Tony groaned. "I give up. This is the thanks I get for building my friends suits of armor? I was better off hanging around with Gene or Justin Hammer."

At the mention of Gene, Pepper became noticeable downcast. Her shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes, her face looking away from Tony. Rhodey did not need to be in the room to realize the tension had just been amped up, so he cleared his throat to try and easy it from his distant location. "Anyway, you two, I am gonna stop by home for Thanksgiving. I hope to see you there."

Tony, whose eyes never left the redhead, answered his friend's implicit question. "We'll be there, Rhodey, even if it's just for a few days. Pepper now lives in California, so…yeah…" The inventor added, suddenly remembering that his father had mentioned to be mindful of the distance between the two teens.

"OK. That sounds good. Well, my break is up; I gotta go. It was nice talking to you again, Pepper."

Pepper took in a deep breath and smiled weakly. "It was nice hearing from you again, Rhodey. I love you, and I can't wait to see you."

"I love you too, Pepper. Take care. And, you too, Tony."

"We will. Bye, Rhodey."

The double-beep of the pod symbolized the end of the call but neither teenager moved for a moment. She sniffed lightly, trying to hide the tears that had formed in her eyes at the mention of Gene, but Tony knew better than to fall for her attempts at pretending she had already gotten over her kidnapping. Suddenly, the house phone rang. Pepper grabbed the receiver without even looking and after swallowing the lump in her throat, answered the call.

"Potts residence. Yes, this is she. Oh! Yes, I can hold."

Tony placed his right hand on her left knee and lightly caressed it, unable to think of anything else to do for now. Pepper remained silent as she was transferred to the next line, and when the hold music ended, she heard a familiar voice.

"Yes, Dad? Is everything alright?" Pepper stared down at her watch. "I was about to get ready to…oh…uh-huh…yeah…"

Tony paid special attention to Pepper's gestures, trying to find out what the conversation was about. He knew that she would tell him once the call ended, but he was afraid that whatever she was hearing was nothing but bad news.

"Are you sure, Dad? I mean, it's no problem. Tony can…" Pepper's sentence was cut off by Virgil, and after a long silence in which Tony assumed Virgil was talking, she did not attempt to finish her intended phrase. "OK," She finally said. "If that's what you want, I can do that. Yes, I'll be fine. I'm sure he will. No, we won't. OK, alright. Love you, Dad. Bye."

Pepper slowly returned the handset to the base with a loud sigh. Tony wanted to take the fact that she was no longer crying to mean the news had not been that bad or not bad at all, but her face was somewhat unreadable, as if she herself was not sure how to take the news. She finally looked at him and shrugged.

"My dad said not to come visit him."

"What? Is he mad because you didn't go see him this morning?"

"How do you know about that?"

"I, uh, asked the hospital if you were there when I couldn't find you."

"Oh. No, he's not mad."

"So, then, what's the problem?"

"Well, he said that the doctor already confirmed with him that he'll be released in two days. So, my dad decided that there is no point in going to visit him if he'll be back home so soon."

"Oh…That's odd, but it kinda makes sense, I guess." The inventor said, trying to cheer up the obviously disappointed girl.

"Yeah, I guess. But, what am I supposed to do now? The place is clean and I have…nothing to do...nowhere to go." Pepper trailed, suddenly dawning on her that her life was not what it used to be. Rhodey was at the Air Force Academy like he had always wanted, and Tony would be en route to MIT in less than three months. She, on the other hand, was stuck in time. She could not go to college, and even if she did, she had no idea what she wanted to do. S.H.I.E.L.D. would not take her in without a college degree, and she could not go to college without a high school diploma. Yet, no self-respecting high school would take her in now; she was too old to be enrolled in a regular high school, and even though she had only been a few months short of graduating, she would have to wait until next semester for her credits to be reevaluated from the Tomorrow Academy to whatever alternative high school diploma program she could find in her new town.

"Well, I think you've done enough as it is." Tony said, surrounding her shoulders with one arm. "Why don't you just relax for now? Your pod is connected to my server back at home and you can stream any of the music or videos in any device."

"That sounds good and all, but maybe I should just get a job."

"A job? You already have a job at Stark Solutions, Pepper. You're my software developer and my private eye."

"A real job, Tony." Pepper chuckled, bitterly. "Clearly, you don't need me anymore. You've managed without me and Rhodey for six months, and based on the review I did of your files when I was at the Armory, Iron Man's maintenance is pretty much automated at this point. I still owe you hours of software testing for the time you paid me when I was gone, but I can't rely on you for the rest of my life. I have to grow up."

"No, Pepper." He said in a low voice. "That's not how it is, at all. You don't rely on me; I rely on you. I need you." He then closed his eyes, rested his forehead on the side of her head and allowed his lips to brush on her left ear. "I need you in more ways than you can imagine."

Pepper closed her eyes and relished in his touch and presence. Up to now she had not placed too much thought on what came after the kidnapping; she had had too many things to think about and handle since she had crawled her way inside the Makluan Temple a few nights ago. Now that she had replaced her wardrobe and had moved into her new home, and having the knowledge that her father would be just fine after his close encounter with death, the reality that she felt and was completely out of place in this new life was starting to hit her, hard.

This is what my dad was talking about, the inventor thought, his mind racing to find an answer for her. He did not want Pepper to feel as if the six months she had been absent had cost her the entire course of her life. He had not searched and waited for her for so long only to have societal standards of what a person her age should have accomplished by now strip away the inner passion he loved of her. "Look, Pep. You don't have to be making these decisions right now. I'm not saying putting them off will make them easier, but rushing into making them isn't gonna help, either."

Pepper leaned her head back so that it rested on the back of the couch. Her eyes were still closed and she took in deep breaths. Tony gave her the moment of self-reflection he knew she needed, but could not help to use his right hand to tenderly trace her face in a similar fashion as she had done so for him just moments ago. Pepper's lips parted slightly, feeling her body relax under his touch. When his fingers began massaging the right side of her neck and shoulder, she began to moan in contentment.

Seeing she was reacting to his attentions, Tony slowly shifted her body so that she was giving her back to him. He leaned closer to her, grabbed her long hair and threw it over her left shoulder. His hands then rested on her shoulders and with better purchase he began massaging the tension in them he had not been aware was so prominent. The redhead melted in his hands, her head bobbing from side to side when he found and worked the harder knots right below her shoulders, on her back.

"Is this something you learned while I was gone?" She questioned him with a tone that told him she was clearly enjoying the interaction. "You're good at it."

"Not really. It just came to me right now," he answered honestly. "Like I said before, you've been through a lot, Pepper. I want to help you get back to normal; whatever normal means to you."

"Us kissing is not normal," she joked, but the reality of the action did not escape her fearful mind.

"No, it's not." He conceded. "It's awesome." He added with a smile, causing the redhead to snicker.

"I see we're still as modest as ever."

"I'm only stating the facts, Potts."

"I doubt that the word 'awesome' is used as an accurate description of facts."

"I'm Tony Stark; I can make it into a law if I wanted to."

To this response, Pepper could not control her laugh. She pulled Tony's hands from her shoulders and used them as pulleys to bring him closer to her. He then surrounded her from behind with his arms, just as the many times they had done so before, when they were nothing more than just friends. Wait, aren't we, technically, still just friends?

He had to correct –or clarify, that.

"Pepper?"

"Uhm?"

"Do you really love Rhodey?"

Pepper almost snorted in response. "Took you long enough, Tony. Yes, I do love Rhodey, but not in the way you're probably thinking."

"Pfft! How do you even know which way I'm thinking about it?"

"Because I know you were born a paranoid."

"HEY!"

"A jealous paranoid, in fact."

"OK, that's just mean."

"Not as mean as calling me a backstabber when you know I'm the last person who would ever stab you in the back. I may be the former Mrs. Gene Khan, but that doesn't mean I'm like him."

Mrs. Gene Khan. That little, son of a bitch! He thought, feeling how the simple statement was proving Pepper's point. Damn it! I am a jealous paranoid!

Pepper's barely controlled yawn brought Tony back from his paranoid mental party, and when she began pulling away from him, he spoke up. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Sleep; something you still don't do much of, I'm sure."

"Sleep? It's three in the afternoon, Pepper!"

"Yes, but I've been up since very early, cleaning up this place. I'm really tired now."

"Oh? Well, in that case," he stood up with her, trying to not sound as disappointed as he felt. "I should get going. When you get up, make a list of things you want to buy and we can go shopping later on today or tomorrow. Just call me or shoot me a text and I'll come by."

Pepper stared at him, silently measuring his words. She opened her mouth to say something but she stopped herself, opting to shake her head and begin walking to the stairs. The genius was not referred to as a genius for no reason, so he picked up his pace and caught up with her at the bottom of the stairs. "What is it, Pep? What were you going to say?"

"Nothing, forget it."

"No, no. Tell me. Do you need something now? Just tell me what it is and I'll…" His words were cut off by Pepper's palm. He closed his mouth and waited for her to speak again; it was written all over her face that something was bothering her.

"Tony, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"This," she pointed to everything around her with her palms facing up. "Driving me around, bringing me food, asking me what I need…You're off the hook, Tony. You've done more than enough for me. I'm grateful but, you've got stuff you need to take care of, too."

Tony narrowed his eyes at her, upset that he was too afraid to say aloud how he felt, and at her for being so stubborn in reading his actions toward her. He had less than 48 hours to change her mind, however, and make her see and understand that he was here to stay.

"After you scared the crap out of me when you came into the temple a few days ago, the last thing you said to me before you passed out in my arms was to help you. I'm just doing as you asked."

"And you have helped me, Tony. But, you…you postponed your entrance to MIT! You just wasted an entire semester, for what? For something that might have never happened? My return, I mean?"

"I didn't waste anything, Pepper. I think I'm old enough to decide how I want to spend my time."

"Yes, but…" she sighed. "Tony, there are a lot of things about me that changed; things that you don't know yet. I'm not going to bombard you with them all at once, but I can tell you that I'm not the same person you knew six months ago." She began going up the stairs.

"Neither am I, Pep." He said as he too took a couple of steps up the stairs. "But I still care for you. That hasn't changed, and it won't change, even if you asked me to leave you alone."

His tone and words made her stop in her tracks, halfway up the stairs, but she did not look down to face him. "What is it that you want from me, Tony? Forgiveness? A hug? A kiss? A proper goodbye? Because I think that other than the last one, I've done all the others, already."

"All I want is you." The once-difficult-to-utter words just flawlessly flew out of his mouth at what he hoped was the right moment.

Pepper closed her eyes and lowered her head. Her right hand grabbed onto the rail of the stairs tightly, and if Tony noticed how white her knuckles were turning with the effort, he did not say it aloud. "Tony," she began. "I'm so happy to be back; to see you, to talk to you. But…your life will be in Massachusetts, and mine will be here. Just like Rhodey, we'll go our separate ways. It's nice to be with you on a…different level, like now, even if just for a little while, but it won't last long."

"You're wrong, Pepper." He took two more steps toward her and stopped. He did not want to overwhelm her so quickly, but he also did not want her to have a chance to run away from him so easily, either. "Your life doesn't have to be here, or mine in MIT. If we want to, we can make it work, wherever you want; wherever you're comfortable."

"What if I don't want to make it work, what then?" The silence that followed her question was long and painful, and just when she thought he had given up, Tony spoke up again.

"Pep, you're loud and talk too much, and you can be very bossy at times, but something I know you're not is a liar. Why are you lying to me now?"

"Maybe for the same reason you're lying to me. You still haven't told me the real reason why you're still sticking around."

"There are many reasons, but if you want just one, it's mainly because you haven't sent me away." He took another step toward her, reducing the number of steps between them to just six.

"What if I sent you away now?"

"I'd know you're lying to me, again." He took another step.

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"Because I know you care about us as much as I do," he narrowed the space between them with another step.

"I do, and that's why I'd rather have you as a friend than not at all."

"Who says you can't get both?" Another step.

"Experience. Gene. Axonn-Karr."

"You mean the guy who betrayed us and the one who kidnapped you? I wouldn't take their words to heart." One more step.

"They're right, though."

"They're not." He said from the step right below hers. "If they were correct then they would be here right now, but they are not. It's just you and me, Pepper, and they shouldn't have any say on what we can have together; on what I know we both want."

Pepper felt him take the final step to stand where she was, and before she realized what he was doing he pushed her back against the wall and kissed her fervently. Despite the knowledge of what had occurred to her in the past and the implications it had on her future, Pepper could not resist him and kissed him back. Her arms pulled him closer to her and he happily complied with her silent demand. His hands held tightly onto her waist, and when he needed to break for air, he only did it long enough to whisper to her. "You told me, just now, that if I couldn't tell you something, that I should show you, right? Well, let me show you again." He began kissing her once more.

The redhead could not fathom how anyone could be so devoted –and skilled, at portraying unspoken words into visible actions. Even though his hands were not roaming around, she could feel heat emanating from every pore in her body, and she could only imagine it was just absorbing what he was already radiating. If she had thought that their previous, short make-out session had been intense, she could not imagine what any future one could be like.

No, I can't let him take this farther than he already has, she told herself. If he knew…if he found out that I…

"I love you, Pepper." His almost out of breath whisper caught her by surprise and he kissed her again when she gasped. "That is why I'm here; because I love you so much."

Pepper stopped his attempt to kiss her again to stare into his eyes. The emotion she could read on them was overwhelming to her, but not as much as his next words were. "I don't want you to be former Mrs. Gene Khan. I want you to be, someday not too far away from today, the future Mrs. Tony Stark."

A/N: Can I be meaner than this? Wow! Major cliffhanger I have here, huh? I may work on the next chapter this weekend if people haven't lost interest in this story I have taken forever to update. I have lots of projects to complete this weekend, but if someone wants to know what happens next, I can definitely make some room for writing the next chapter. Thank you all for your patience, favs, follows, reads and reviews!