Chapter 15

The minute Pepper opened the front door to leave to pick up her father, Tony landed from the skies at her doorstep. He took off the armor using Extremis and sent it flying inside the house from his standing position in the front porch and through the opened door. Pepper did not even have to move out of its trajectory; the parts just flew around her without hurting her. Pepper then turned around, closed the door and locked it before walking toward the cab with Tony next to her. He was yet to utter a word but his posture told Pepper he was still beating himself up. Pepper had her doubts that the accident was Tony's doing, but convincing the genius of such was going to be next to impossible without some hard proof.

Tony opened the cab door for Pepper and she thanked him with a smile and a nod on her way in. The blue-eyed boy jumped in after her and closed the door just in time for the driver to begin the drive. Tony's left hand found Pepper's and he laced their fingers together, but his eyes were on the road staring at it through the side window. Every now and then he would sigh loudly and lightly squeeze her hand, but other than those two actions he did not speak at all.

Pepper could feel his guilt coming out of him in waves, so she rested her head on his shoulder, snaking her left arm around his left one. He acknowledged her comforting gesture by kissing the top of her head before returning his gaze to the road. Pepper closed her eyes and remained quiet throughout the rest of the drive to the hospital, knowing that the scientist needed time to himself.

Once the cab arrived at its destination, Tony gave the cabbie a $50 to wait for them while they got Virgil, and the driver gladly accepted the proposition. The inventor opened the door and held it open for Pepper and they both walked hand-in-hand inside the reception. To their surprise, Virgil had already checked himself out and was sitting by the entrance, dressed up and ready to go in a wheelchair.

"Dad!" Pepper ran toward Virgil with Tony in tow. The young scientist almost tripped on his own two feet with the sudden pull from Pepper's grip, but he never let her go. He slammed on the breaks just in time before he could hit her back and shook his head behind her. Virgil, who had witnessed the entire scene, gave Tony a sympathetic look that seemed to say: I'm sorry for your duty, kid!

Now that they were standing next to the former FBI man, Pepper let go of Tony and jumped into her father's arms, happy to see him up and about. "What are you doing down here already? Are you supposed to be out so soon? Did you get all your belongings back? Did you check that they were yours? Sometimes these places trade them for fake stuff, especially jewelry. Did they give you your medicine? Are you ready to come back home?"

Virgil again stared at Tony as if asking for help, but the boy only chuckled lightly and shrugged, as if saying: It's your turn to deal with it.

"I'm fine, Pepper. Yes, I got all my belongings, and yes they are all mine. No, I don't have to take any medicine, and yes, I can't wait to come back home. In fact, I want you to meet someone who's coming home with us." He said as his palm pointed to a tall brunette that was standing next to him. Pepper's gaze landed on the woman –who was around the same age as Virgil – and she looked at her up and down with piercing narrowed eyes until Tony cleared his throat to stop the redhead from giving the woman a death-glare.

"Hi, Patricia," the woman extended her hand toward Pepper. "I'm Marsha; your dad has told me so much about you."

Pepper's eyes flew from her father to the newcomer's still expecting hand. After a tug from Tony's hand, Pepper reluctantly shook hands with the woman while a sing-song of "Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!" echoed in the redhead's mind.

"My friends call me, Pepper," the girl clarified as the handshake broke. "But since I've never heard of you, I guess you can't call me that."

"Pepper!" Virgil spat. "I'm sorry, Marsha. Pepper just came back, like I told you, and I haven't had a chance to tell her about you."

"It's no problem. We'll have the chance to get to know each other, right?" Marsha asked with a hopeful smile which Pepper did not return, making the poor woman even more comfortable than she already felt. "So, who is this strapping young man?" the woman asked when she realized she was yet to pay attention to the boy with Pepper. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you don't know who Tony Stark is."

"T-Tony Stark?" Marsha barely got out as her eyes went wide in realization. "YOU'RE the Tony Stark?"

"Hi, nice to meet you," Tony extended his hand and she shakily took it with both. "Oh, my gosh! It's such an honor! I'm a fan of yours and your father's inventions! Your miniaturized particle accelerator is amazing!"

If Pepper had not liked the woman at first, she now hated her. Before Tony could say anything else, Pepper cleared her throat, turned around on her heels, and began dragging Tony with her toward the door. "The cab is waiting."

"Cab?" Marsha asked. "I thought I was driving all of us back home?"

Tony flinched internally when he heard Pepper's light gasp. She then turned around and pulled Tony out of the way and walked up to Virgil. "What's going on, Dad?"

Virgil gave Marsha a nod and a second later she and Tony were walking out of the hospital to relieve the cab driver of his wait. The FBI man waited for him and his daughter to be alone before speaking again. "Look, Pepper, a lot of things happened when we thought you were gone."

"Clearly," she crossed her arms over her chest. "You seem to have looked for something to do while I was gone, huh?"

"Pepper, it's not like that."

"So, what's it like? Because all I can see is that this stranger called your house her home."

"Listen, Patricia. Marsha and I have been seeing each for the last three months. I met her in grief counseling and we've been dating since. Before I found out about you from that news report, I had just asked her to move in with me and she accepted."

Pepper's mouth went agape. "You-you…move in? As in live with us?"

"Yes."

"Are you insane?" Pepper threw her hands in the air. "You've just met this woman!"

"Sweetheart, at my age, the concept of time and dating is different than when you're a teen."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. I know it's hard to believe but, how long did it take for you and Tony to start going out?"

"We…uhm," she began. "We…ah," she swallowed hard. "What?"

"Well, it's clear the two of you are now dating, unless you hold hands with all your guy friends."

Pepper's eyes landed on her right hand and she realized that she had just assumed her dad would not read the obvious signs that she and Tony were now an item; an assumption that was stupid in the first place. "That's completely different," she defended herself. "Tony and I have been friends for years. You've known her for three months."

"Like I said, it's different for us old people," he smiled. "Can you at least give her a chance?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," he said with another smile.

Pepper exhaled deeply and shrugged. "Whatever, I guess, but she can't have my room," she added as she began pushing the wheelchair toward the exit.

"That's all right; she's staying in mine."

"NO!" Pepper spat. "She can have my room! I'll sleep outside!"

xxxXXXxxx

"Are you seriously going to sleep outside, Pep?" The redhead heard her boyfriend ask as he walked out the front porch of the home and sat on the steps next to her. "Aren't you taking this a little bit out of proportion?"

"Did my dad approve all of the upgrades?" She asked him, ignoring his question as her eyes stared into space.

"Yup; gave him the tour and everything. I'm installing the infrared next weekend when I come see you again."

Pepper hugged her legs closer to herself and rested her chin on her knees. "How are you feeling?"

Tony shrugged. "Like a murderer."

Pepper lifted her face slightly so that she could shift it to stare at Tony while still resting the side of her face on her knees. "You're not one, Tony. It was an accident; an accident we still have to confirm."

"What's to confirm, Pepper?" He rested the weight of his head on his left hand, partially mimicking Pepper's position. "I wanted the light to change, so I did it, and I should turn myself in."

Pepper straightened out her back and her eyes went wide. "Are you kidding? What are you going to tell people? That you think you hate traffic lights and tell them what to do?"

"Not in so many words, but yes."

"OK, at the risk of sounding like the most selfish person in the world, I have to ask: what about me?"

"What about you? You didn't do anything wrong."

"And if you turn yourself in, I'll probably never see you again. I may have not done anything wrong, but I'm still going to be punished."

Tony's head hung and it was now his turn to rest his chin on his knees. "And that guy is never going to see his fiancée again."

"And because of that I have to resign myself to never seeing you again? Turning yourself in won't bring back Vanessa, and you don't have enough proof yet that it was actually your fault. It could have been a coincidence; a very infinitesimal one, but still a coincidence."

"You're right; you do sound selfish," Tony said with a sad smile. "But I'm selfish, too, and I don't want to be away from you."

"Well, how about this? Give us some time to analyze the data and rule out any other possibilities. If we both agree that there is no way it wasn't your doing, then we'll talk to the cops about it…after we talk to Roberta."

Tony thought about Pepper's suggestion for a few minutes, and the girl silently stared at him knowing he was giving her idea some substantial thought.

"OK, Pepper." He finally accepted. "But if I end up in jail for murder, you can't get mad at me."

"I won't….as long as I get conjugal visit rights." She smirked.

"Conjugal visits? Pep, we'd need to be married for…oh…ah! I see. Getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we, Potts?"

"You're the one who brought up the option first, or have you forgotten about it?"

"Not at all," he chuckled. "The offer still stands," he winked at her. He then leaned closer to her and hugged her from the side with his right arm. Pepper relaxed under his embrace and closed her eyes. A comfortable silence fell upon them and Pepper had no problem sleeping outside if it entailed remaining in the young scientist's arms all night long.

The thought of seeing Tony leave tomorrow – although it was a day later than what had been originally planned – and then having to adjust to her new life on the West coast without him made her cringe. Not only would she not have him nearby every day, but she now had to also learn to share a home with Marsha Ray. So far, the woman had not done anything that Pepper could use as a legitimate reason to dislike her – well, other than being a Tony fan – but, then again, she had only been around her for a handful of hours.

"Tony?"

"Pep?"

"Since your mom…" she faltered. "Since she, well…you know."

"Died."

"Yeah," Pepper said, feeling uneasy with using the actual word since she was not sure how much the topic affected Tony. "Has your dad ever tried dating anyone, that you know of?"

"You know, I never paid much attention to that," he said with all honesty. "But now that you mention it, no, not really. I remember spending a lot of time with him while I was growing up, and between me and the company…I guess he never really had the time."

"Did you want him to?"

"I probably wouldn't have known it was going on."

"What? I don't believe that. I mean, not that I have the hots for your dad or anything, but he's very easy on the eyes. I'd think gazillions of women would've tried becoming your new mom."

"If they did, my dad never let me find out about it. Hell, I didn't even start dating until I started going to school, and so far it's only been Whitney and you."

"So far?" She teased, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"What about you?"

"Happy and you…so far," she added the last part with a sly smile.

"In your case," he said, clearing his throat. "That's as far as you're going, Miss Potts. I'm taking you off the market."

"Or so you say, Mister Stark."

"Mister Stark," Tony repeated. "I like the sound of that."

"You would," she shook her head. "Anyway, what do you think about Marsha?"

"I think she's a brilliant scientist. She's actually done work with Dr. Reed Richards."

"Really?" Pepper groaned. "Well, that's going to be hard to argue against."

"What? You don't like her?"

"Would you like a woman your dad suddenly tells you he's dating and moving in with him?"

Tony shrugged. "It's different."

"Why? Because you're a guy?"

"Not only that, but I haven't lived with my dad in a while, and by this point I think he deserves to have someone in his life other than just me."

"You're right," Pepper said. "It is different. I'm a girl, still live with my dad, and he doesn't need anyone else but me."

"That's a little bit hypocritical, don't you think, Pep?"

"Hypocritical, why?"

"Well, you say your dad doesn't need anyone else but you, but you have me. Where does that leave your dad?"

Pepper pulled away from Tony and she narrowed her eyes at him when she realized she could not think of a good argument against his. "I hate you, Stark."

Tony smiled widely at her, knowing there was nothing else that needed to be said.

xxxXXXxxx

Tony lay on his left side on the couch in the Potts' living room, one arm under his head. He had found a documentary that only someone like he would be interested in watching after Pepper had said goodnight and had gone up to her room. The home had been quiet for a couple of hours, leaving Tony to think that everyone was already asleep, but when a glass of scotch was placed in front of his face, Tony looked up to see Virgil holding out the beverage to him.

"Do you want me to hold it?" Tony asked as he grabbed it and sat up straight, Virgil sitting next to him.

"Do you drink?" The man asked as he took a sip of his own similar drink he had in his hand.

"Typically, no," Tony admitted as he stared at the mix of mineral water, ice and scotch. "My dad and I sometimes drink during the holidays, but other than that, not really."

"Good," Virgil noted. "Last thing I want is my little girl marrying a drunkard."

Tony nearly dropped his drink but was able to catch it before it slipped his now sweaty hands. Suddenly, taking a sip from the drink was not such a bad idea, so he took two. "It's strong," Tony said as he felt the burning sensation crawl down his throat.

"I don't use much mineral water. It's mostly scotch." Virgil took another gulp of the drink.

"My dad drinks it without any diluting, but I can't handle much of it."

"Good thing you don't have to drive or fly yourself home tomorrow, then."

Tony chuckled. "Just make sure I don't leave in my pajamas," Tony joked and pointed to his current attire. "Or without any shoes."

"Shoes? Walking barefoot is not that bad, Tony."

"No, it's not. But if Pepper sees my feet getting dirty or calloused again, she'll drag me back to the salon to get another pedicure." Tony knew the memory of having toe separators on his feet deserved another two more sips of the nasty drink, but it was not until Virgil started laughing that Tony realized he had shared a little bit too much information with the man. "I mean… uh…"

"Too late, Tony. It's already out in the open."

"Dammit," Tony snickered. "My next invention should be a memory eraser."

"Like the ones in the movie?"

"Perhaps," Tony shrugged and swallowed down more of the liquid, mostly due to it still being in his hand.

"You'd do it, too." Virgil agreed. "You're a very bright young man, Tony, with an even brighter future ahead. Do you have it all figured out, what you want to do?"

"Some things," Tony chugged down three more sips. "Some I'll think about them when I have to."

"Such as?"

"The company," he placed the now half-drunk glass on the coffee table. "I know my dad's intention was for me to take over when I was 18 – if he wasn't around – 21 if he was. But now that I have my own company, I'm not sure if I'm even interested in doing that. I like my little company just fine."

"What about college?"

"Starting in January. I should be out of there in 3 years, tops."

"Then?"

"Continue growing Stark Solutions; dedicate my time to finding ways to help people."

"What else?"

Tony shrugged again. "That's about it."

Virgil nodded silently and drank down the remainder of the drink before he too placed his empty glass on the coffee table. "It's funny that you didn't mention Pepper."

"Don't have to. She's there through it all."

"Is that what she wants?"

"She hasn't told me she doesn't want to. She's very good at what she does, and I don't see her anywhere else other than with me, running Stark Solutions together."

"And, what if she doesn't want that?"

"Then, we'll adjust."

"Pepper has a difficult time adjusting."

"Tell me about it," Tony smiled. "But we've been through worse. I think we can survive a change of career every now and then."

"What about twenty?" Virgil asked and Tony's eyebrows flew to his forehead.

"Twenty?"

Virgil nodded. "Has Pepper ever talked to you about her mom?"

"Not really," Tony admitted. "I haven't asked much either, but I'd figure she's tell me when she's ready."

"Well, Julia, Pepper's mom, was so much like Pepper. Not just physically, but in spirit, too. In the ten years we were together, she must have changed careers a million times."

"Really? How come? Did you guys travel a lot?"

Virgil shook his head. "Not really. She was just so unpredictable like that, but just with interests, mind you. She was very much focused when it came to our family, and when Pepper was born she stopped doing everything else and decided to be a stay-home mom. She only got to do it for three years before she passed, but that had been the most concentrated I had ever seen her since we met in high school."

"You met in high school?" Tony asked, the parallels between them not lost to the inventor.

"We were sixteen, dated in high school and then through college. Graduated, got married and then Pepper came around." Virgil said in a voice that became lower and lower until it stopped. He remained silent for a minute while his mind flooded with images of the good times he, Julia and Pepper had had, before speaking again. "The FBI is the only job I'd ever had. But Julia was all over the place. You seem to have already set a path, and it implies having your job – your company – as your only occupation. Do you think that your straight road is ready for the winding one Patricia may have?"

Tony considered Virgil's words carefully and silently. The nature of his business did not specifically require him stay put in one place, but he too wanted to have the sense of stability that came from coming home to your family at the end of the day. "I don't think I can make that decision without consulting with Pepper, first." Tony finally said.

"That's what I wanted to hear," Virgil smiled. "That's what made my marriage with Julia work."

"I'm committed to Pepper, sir, if that's what you're worried about."

"I was," Virgil admitted. "But not anymore. I don't think someone who wasn't serious about dating my daughter would have gone through the trouble of installing a state-of-the-art security system in my house."

Tony nodded and his eyes landed on the two glasses of scotch on the coffee table and frowned. "You know, I should've installed a Pepper-proofed safety mechanism."

"What, why?"

"We forgot to use coasters," Tony responded as he took off one of his socks and began drying the wet coffee table, and knowing Pepper despised seeing condensation rings on any furniture.

"Aw, shit," Virgil mumbled as he grabbed the two glasses and wiped the bottom of them on his pajama pants. "Any chance she won't notice it tomorrow?"

"As long as it is after I leave, who cares?" Tony joked.

"Tony," Virgil said as he stood up and began walking to the kitchen to drop the glasses in the sink. "I think you'll fit right in," he added before leaving the scientist to his thoughts of angry redheads chasing him in the street with a mop.