So, I'm down to the last two pages of notes, and there's another seven chapters to go. Assuming I don't separate them out or add things in. As always, thanks to Marvel Comic Database and Marvel Universe Wiki for background information. Apologies if it feels like I rushed things, the notes for this chapter were the ones I couldn't remember a single detail of when I had to re-write them, and I suck at filler chapters. Also, the license plate number described below was Googled and is not mine, nor belongs to anyone I know, so if you know it, blame Google.

Disclaimer: How many times do you want me to say they're not mine?

The weeks had flown by. Tony had spent the last seven weeks studiously training and planning with the other Secret Avengers, and although some parts of the plan were still missing, namely Tony's secret weapon, he felt that they were ready. With the aid of the cloaking capability of the Extremis suit, he had travelled to Wakanda in order to gain the help of the Black Panther and his tribe. Having been gone for nearly a week, Pepper had stayed at home with Robert, who was pretty much overjoyed to have her with him with no 'work' to get in the way.

And that's how the problem started. The problem she was now staring at. Two little blue problems staring her right in the face, mocking her. She sighed and looked at the box one more time, praying she'd simply read the instructions wrong, but no, she had in fact read them right the first seven times she looked at them. Plus, how difficult was it to pee on a stick?

Pepper Potts was pregnant, and to make things worse, she didn't have the faintest idea who the father was. If she was more than two months gone, the baby was Robert's, but less than that and it could just as likely be Tony's. She sighed and buried her face in her hands, digging the palms of her hands into her eyes.

"High School called, they want their drama back." She mumbled to herself before getting up and disposing of the box and the test, exiting the bathroom and heading into the bedroom to get dressed. Rationally, she knew what she had to do, but that didn't mean she was looking forward to it, or indeed wanted to do it, but she had to, it was the only option. Well, not the only option, but certainly the most sensible, and that's what she needed to focus on now; what was best for her child.

Upon exiting the bedroom, she heard voices coming from the kitchen and headed towards them, finding Robert and Rhodey sitting at the centre island. Rhodey's expression darkened slightly as he spotted Pepper and he motioned to Robert, who had his back to her. Robert span on his stool and grinned at the sight of her.

"Hey babe, we didn't wake you did we?" he asked, tugging her towards him as she walked forwards. "We were just going over old missions."

Pepper smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, I've been up for a while. How did physio go?"

Rhodey laughed and slapped Robert on the shoulder. "He totally nailed it. The doc thinks he'll be back to work within the month"

"But," Robert added. "She thinks I'll always have a limp and I might get tired easily when walking so…desk job." His smile faltered slightly.

Pepper frowned and stroked his cheek. "I'm sorry. I know how much you loved your job."

Robert shrugged a little. "Nah, it's…it'll be fine. It pays the same and hey, it's a lot safer than what I was doing, so you won't have to spend any more sleepless nights waiting for me." He quirked one side of his mouth and leant forward to kiss her and, awkwardly, Pepper responded. Thankfully, Rhodey interrupted by making a gagging noise, to which Robert span and punched him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm just reminding you that there are other people in the room, man."

"Anyway." Pepper said, drawing Robert's attention back to her. "I, um…I have to tell you something. I…I took a test this morning and…I'm pregnant."

Rhodey's eyebrows shot up and Robert blinked at her.

"Pregnant?" he asked. "Pregnant? As in…as in babies? We're…I'm…I'm gonna be a daddy?"

Pepper bit her lip and nodded once. Robert stared at her for a second before pulling her roughly forwards and kissing her hard, pulling back a short while later and grinning madly.

"You're pregnant? This…this is amazing baby." He cupped her cheek and kissed her again.

"Congratulations, dude." Rhodey said, smile not quite reaching his eyes as he slapped Robert on the shoulder again. "I didn't think you wanted kids."

"I didn't." Robert said. "I mean before you." He added to Pepper as her smile slipped a little. "I never…I never thought I'd be this happy with one person or that I'd want everything we have and…Ginny, will you marry me?"

Rhodey, who had been taking a swig of his beer, choked on his mouthful and coughed, hitting himself on the chest to clear it. Pepper stared at Robert like a deer in headlights.

"Rob…"

"Look, I don't have a ring or anything yet," he added before she could finish. "But I will. I've been wanting to ask you for a while now and this…what better sign could I ask for than this? I want to be a real family with you, Ginny. Marry me."

Pepper swallowed. Her heart was telling her one thing, but her brain was screaming another, and in the end she knew she had to do the right thing for the life growing inside her.

"Yes." She said softly, smiling shakily.

Both Robert's and Rhodey's eyebrows rose and Robert jumped off his stool to hug her tightly, spinning her around once before setting her down and kissing her.

"I love you so much." He said, grinning madly.

"Love you too." Pepper said, not quite meeting his eyes.

Rhodey cleared his throat and tipped his beer towards them in a salute. "Double congratulations I guess." He mumbled before taking another swig. Robert laughed and stepped away from Pepper.

"I'm gonna go call my parents, I'll be right back." He said, kissing her again and dashing from the room. Pepper ran a hand through her hair and glanced awkwardly at Rhodey as he stared at her.

"Something you want to say to me, Rhodey?" she asked him. Rhodey shrugged and took another swig of his beer, still staring. Pepper sighed and closed her eyes briefly before stepping around him to grab her purse. "I have to go to work, can you let Rob know when he comes back?" Rhodey grunted in acknowledgement and Pepper rolled her eyes before heading out of the kitchen.

Robert came back a few moments later and looked around before sitting next to Rhodey again.

"Work." Rhodey supplied before Robert could ask. "What did the 'rents say?"

Robert beamed and brought his own beer up to his lips. "They're ecstatic. They both love Ginny and they're really happy for us."

"So am I, man." Rhodey said. "I mean it. You both seem really happy together."

Robert nodded and put his beer down. "Yeah, though to be honest, it seemed like we were gonna break up a couple months ago."

Rhodey's brows furrowed. "Really? How come?"

Robert shrugged. "We just kept arguing about her working hours and her being away on business every five minutes. Didn't she tell you about it when she stayed at your place?"

Rhodey stared at him for a second. "Uh…when was this?"

"Two months ago?" Robert said. "We had a fight and she went to your place. She stayed the night."

Rhodey shook his head. "In the two decades we've known each other, she's never slept over at my place man."

Shaking his head, Robert's eyes widened. "N-no, she…she said she was going to stay at yours. She came back the next morning…" he got up from the stool and looked around frantically before grabbing his cell phone and his keys. Rhodey followed him with his eyes.

"Maybe she stayed at Happy's?" Rhodey offered. Robert shook his head.

"Happy was on call that night, and he would have told me if she'd turned up." He ran a hand through his hair and headed for the door. "This can't be happening."

Rhodey quickly followed him out of the house and grabbed his shoulder as he approached the car. "Whoa, stop for a second and think. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find out what the hell is happening." He replied calmly, cell pressed to his ear. "Yeah, this is Agent Owens, I need a GPS trace on a vehicle, license number Five Bravo Bravo Mike Two Niner Niner." He kept his cell in place with his shoulder as he unlocked his car and climbed inside. "Ok, patch it through to this number." He placed his cell into the cradle on the dashboard and flipped it sideways. Within seconds, a map flashed up with a gun sight, zooming in on Pepper's location.

"Rob, this is insane." Rhodey said, leaning in through the driver's window. "She probably went to one of her girlfriend's houses that night."

"I need to be sure, James." Robert said, eyes fixed on the map as it calculated Pepper's position.

"What, you got a gateway to the past on that thing?" Rhodey asked incredulously. "This isn't a DeLorean. She's gone to work, dude."

"Has she?" Robert asked as the map beeped, showing a little green dot moving West. "Stark Enterprises is due North, where the hell is she going?"

Rhodey shook his head. "Rob, just call her-"

"James!" Robert shouted. "I am really not in the mood to argue right now, so either get off the car or get in it."

Rhodey stared at him for a split second longer before skirting around the car and hopping into the passenger seat, barely slamming the door closed before Robert peeled out of the driveway and headed towards the now stationary dot.

Upon entering the mansion, Pepper was greeted with an oddly familiar sight. Familiar to her at least. Most of the Secret Avengers where milling around the lounge; Peter and Blake were engaging in a game of chess by the window; Logan was sharpening his claws on the couch, sitting next to Punisher who was cleaning his guns, and she could make out Cable and Luke Cage out in the garden, both meditating. As she closed the door, Peter's head snapped up and he smiled.

"Hey Pep, Tony's down in his cave." He said cheerily.

"Checkmate." Black mumbled, drawing his attention back to the game.

"What?" Peter said, shocked. "How the hell do you keep doing that?"

Blake laughed and started re-setting the pieces. "Boy, I've lived longer than you could ever imagine. I've had ample enough time to practise."

Peter mumbled angrily and moved his first pawn as the game started again. Pepper shook her head and started off to the stairs down to the workshop, only to find Tony ascending them. His face broke into a broad grin when he saw her and he took the last few steps two at a time in his haste to get to her, scooping her up in a hug when he reached the ground floor and kissing her deeply.

"Mmmissedyou." He mumbled against her mouth.

"Get a room." Logan and Punisher said at the same time, neither taking their eyes from their respective tasks. Tony pulled away from Pepper and glared at the two of them as Peter and Blake chuckled before looking back to the woman in his arms and smiling.

"Hi." He said, setting her down on her feet again, his smile faltering somewhat when he saw the look on her face. "You ok?"

Pepper cleared her throat and smiled a little. "Yeah. How…how did the meeting with the Black Panther go?"

Tony shrugged a little. "Not bad. Not great, but not bad. He said if it comes to it, he'll help, but he was pretty reluctant. He agrees with us, but he doesn't want to interfere with foreign matters…are you sure you're ok?"

Pepper sighed and scratched the back of her neck. "Um…I need to talk to you."

Tony scrutinised her for a second before nodding and looking at the group. "Guys, you mind giving us a minute?"

Blake and Peter rose immediately and vacated the area, and after a little prodding on Logan's part, he and Punisher followed. Once the room was clear, Tony led Pepper over to the couch and they sat down.

"So what's up?" he asked. Pepper chewed her lip and stared at the coffee table. Tony reached out and grabbed her hand. "Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me. What's wrong?"

Reluctantly raising her eyes, Pepper took a deep breath and swallowed. "I'm pregnant."

A range of expressions flowed across Tony's face before he let out a bark of laughter and pulled her into a tight hug, smiling like an idiot.

"Pepper, that's…that's amazing news!" he said, pulling back after a second. "I can't believe it, Pepper, I'm so happy, I never…" his enthusiasm faltered slightly when he caught the look on her face. "You don't seem very happy about this."

Pepper stood up abruptly and ran a hand through her hair. "It's complicated."

Furrowing his brows, Tony shook his head. "How's that now?"

Pepper turned to him, wringing her hands slightly. "Tony, I don't…I don't know if the baby is yours or Robert's."

Tony drew back slightly. "Well…ok, I mean we can work around that if it comes to it-"

"He proposed to me when I told him." Pepper said quickly. Tony's eyebrow's shot up and he opened his mouth to speak. "And I said yes."

Tony closed his mouth, unable to think of a response, simply staring at her with a dazed expression.

"I can't do this, Tony." Pepper said, her voice wavering slightly as the back of her eyes began to burn. "I can't raise a child like this, it's not safe."

Tony shook his head, standing up. "We're days away from finishing this-"

"No, you're not." Pepper interrupted. "For God's sake, Tony, you're still trying to find people to help you. There are seven of you and God knows how many of them."

"But I know we can do this!" Tony stressed, stepping forwards. "I have a plan, Pepper, and I know it'll work, and I know we'll have more than enough support. You can't…you can't just leave."

Pepper shook her head. "I can't stay." She whispered. "I just can't. It's not right. I should never…I shouldn't have let it get this far. I shouldn't have started this in the first place. I love Robert."

"You love me more." Tony said. "You know you love me more."

Pepper wiped her eye quickly as a tear threatened. "It's not enough."

Tony's Adam's apple bobbed and his eyes grew red. "What if the baby is mine? Don't I get a choice in this?"

Pepper let out a disbelieving sound and stared at him. "Tony, you're a dead man, hiding from the Government with a bunch of outlaw superheroes, would you let your child live like this?" Tony remained silent and Pepper nodded. "Exactly. I'm sorry, Tony." She turned and walked to the front door, Tony following her. As she opened it and stepped outside, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him.

"You can tell me it's over, tell me you don't love me any more, but I'm gonna go ahead and keep loving you." He said, his voice breaking. Pepper sniffed tearfully and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before turning back to her car and walking swiftly towards it, slipping into the driver's seat and speeding away from the mansion.

Tony slumped against the door frame as he watched her car drive off, waiting until it was just a spec in the distance before slowly pushing away from the door and heading back into the house.

Hidden amongst the trees outside the main gates of the mansion, Robert lowered his binoculars as Pepper's car sped towards them, turning once past the grounds and heading back to their house. Rhodey watched her go before turning to Robert expectantly.

"Well?" he asked. "What happened? What did you see?"

Robert turned his head to stare at Rhodey before yanking his cell from its cradle and dialling a number.

"This is Agent Owens, get me Director Hill. Tony Stark is alive."

TBC