Chapter 6
Beep…beep…beep…
Loud, incessant beeping filled his exhausted his senses. Had that beeping always been there? Of course it was. It had to have been there. Beeping meant life; beeping was good.
Finally opening his eyes, Tony remembered where he was. They had finally made it back to the base safe and sound. After an IV, a bottle or two of Gatorade, and a good meal, Tony had recovered from their desert escapade.
JC, on the other hand, was still unconscious and hooked to an IV. He had thought that she would have recovered by now. They had finally been able to get a needle in her arm, which meant she was doing better, at least, he thought so. That was still the least of his concerns. Her reactor may not have malfunctioned as he thought it had, but there was still that risk. Which meant he needed her to recover quickly so they could be on the first flight out, and he could make her a new one.
During the time they had spent at the base, Tony had contacted Pepper and JC's son saying that they would be home soon. Those had been the most…interesting phone calls in his life. Pepper had tried very hard, but it was impossible not to hear the tears she was holding back. At least that made one more person who honestly gave a damn about him. The conversation with Darren was…well, there was no perfect word for it. He had to lie, say he was a friend of his mother's. He was sure that if Darren knew it was him, he might just hang up the phone. JC had made it clear in the cave that no one in her family had any liking for him. Once he had said that his mother was safe and would be home soon, he was sure he heard crying. The boy didn't have a complete breakdown, but Tony had little doubt the he did when he got off the phone. Now he understood why JC didn't speak about him to just anyone. They had a bond that Tony had never really had with his own mother, and he knew that if he did, he wouldn't want to share that with just anyone. After he had made his calls, he stayed with JC. He didn't want her to be alone when she awoke.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he stood up and stretched his tired, cramped muscles. He was about to leave to get some coffee when JC began to stir. "JC?" he asked, thinking she was awake.
Her eyes fluttered for a minute before blue came from beneath her weary lids.
"Tony? What…Where are we?" she asked weakly.
"You don't remember, do you? We were found in the desert and brought back to base. You were in pretty bad shape," he explained, sitting down next to her bed.
"I vaguely remember that part. I had a killer headache," she said rubbing one of her temples. "What's this?" she asked when she found a band-aid.
"You were so dehydrated they couldn't find a good vein in your arm. They had to stick one in your head for awhile."
She smirked before saying, "I should have known. The Blood Bank has a hard enough time finding one when I'm healthy. Well, it's not like having a needle in my head is anything new."
"You've been stabbing your head with needles? Do we need to have a talk, young lady?" he teased.
"No," she chuckled. "I had meningitis when I was six weeks old. I got so bad so quick they couldn't find anything to stick the needle into. They were about to cut in for my femoral artery when they managed to find one in my head. I don't remember any of it, but from the way my mother described it, it really sucked," she explained.
"Meningitis normally sucks. You really scared me out there, you know. I thought…" He couldn't bring himself to say the words. He knew he'd have to tell her how much danger she was still in, but finding out like this…no, not like this. He felt her hand on his. Would she have been so kind if she knew the truth? Not likely.
"I'm fine," she assured him.
"Why didn't you say something?"
"What good would it have done? It's not like it would have changed anything. If you were even half as bad as I was, it wouldn't have made you feel better. Complaining never solved anything."
"Neither does keeping something like that a secret." Who was he to judge? He knew those words would come back to haunt him sooner than later.
"Okay. Next time we get stuck out in a desert after blowing up a terrorist camp and are wandering around in circles, I will gladly tell you how hungry and thirsty I am and make sure you know it well. Deal?"
He couldn't help but smirk. "What are the odds of that ever happening again?"
"Well, I never thought I was going to see you again. Fate has a sick sense of humor sometimes."
"Why did you take the job?" he asked, honestly wanting to know. "You threatened, with a knife to my throat, that you would kill me if you ever saw me again. Why take the job? You had to know it was me." It was a question that had been torturing him for almost the entirety of their imprisonment. There were so many times that he had wanted to ask her, but he had always been afraid of the consequences. She'd thrown a wrench at him for speaking about her son. There was no telling what might anger her at the time, and they needed to work together. That was no longer an issue, and while she could still refuse to answer him now, he hoped beyond anything that she might answer him truthfully.
"What can I say? The opportunity to scare you half out of your wits was far too tempting." He knew she was lying, and he gave her a stare that told her so. "I was between jobs, and it sounded like easy money, even if I had to put up with you."
He knew that wasn't the whole story, knew she was hiding more, but he wouldn't try to push her anymore.
"I should probably leave you to rest now before some nurse comes by and throws a fit."
"Don't leave just yet," she said. "I need to know if Darren, my son, was contacted. Do you know?" she asked, eyes pleading.
"I took care of it myself. I told him you were safe and would be home as soon as we were able to leave," he reported.
"Thanks, Ton-I mean, Mr. Stark."
"After what we just went through, you've earned the right to be on a first name basis with me. Besides, I'm not your superior, and you don't work for me."
"You're still my client, and we're not trapped in some cave anymore. A certain level of professionalism is required now. You understand?"
"Not really. You don't owe me anything now, or did you forget our agreement?" he said, his shoulders slumping and averted his gaze. He had actually forgotten for a moment. Everything was going so well, but now that he thought about it, none of it was real, not for her. It was all part of their deal.
"We agreed that until we were out, until we were safe, our problems would be put aside. We're not safe until we are standing on American soil. Our agreement still stands," she said.
Tony did his best to suppress his surprise, but even then he was sure it showed to some degree. He had meant only until they were out of terrorist hands, but apparently she had thought otherwise. Either way, he was happy for the extra time. Besides, he didn't feel like arguing with her. They were safe, alive, and still on friendly terms, and for that moment, that was all that mattered.
Two days later the doctor had given Tony the OK to go home. He had already called Pepper that morning to tell her they would be home as soon as JC was cleared. He was on his way to meet JC when he heard yelling from the other side of her doctor's door.
"What do you mean you can't approve me for travel? My injury occurred three months ago. It's practically healed. What kind of concerns could you possibly have?" he heard JC exclaim.
"Ms. Alwin, please, calm yourself. I am merely considering your health," another woman, presumably her doctor, said as calmly as possible.
"What kind of health concerns are there? We went running around in some God forsaken desert, for Christ's sake. I'm still in one piece, aren't I? How much harm do you think a plane is going to do?"
"I am more concerned about whether or not the mechanism keeping the shrapnel from your lungs will continue to function properly. If anything were to happen, there would be no one to help you."
"So send someone with us if you're that worried. And I will not be helpless, since the creator will be on the same plane. Besides, you cleared Stark, and he has the exact same thing in his chest. What's the difference?"
Tony's eyes widened in fear. How could they know if anything was wrong with the device? Arc Reactor technology was barely even understood by some of his better scientists. How could this doctor know anything?
"To be frank with you, Lieutenant, that device is experimental technology, at best, made in a very crude environment. There is a chance for anything to go wrong."
Tony felt offended by this woman's remarks. Sure, he would admit that they did have a grain of truth to them, but didn't she know who he was? The reactor back home hadn't failed, so what would make her think this one would–if she even knew what the thing was.
"Then detain Stark, too. Unless you have a legitimate reason other than this crap to keep me here, I am getting on that plane, I am going home, and I am going to see my son," JC growled.
"I cannot let you go. Unfortunately, I am not the only doctor here, and Mr. Stark is not, nor ever was, my patient, but if he was I would detain him, too. It is too risky to send two people up there with experimental technology running vital organs. For all either of you know the technology could fail."
For a minute there was silence in the room leaving Tony to guess the angry expressions on their faces. A moment later JC spoke again, but Tony had put his ear close to the door to make out what she said.
"No one has more reason to hate that man for the things he's done than me. I have despised him for as long as I've known him, but there is one thing I have come to almost admire about him. When he sets himself to do something, he does it. He made these crude, experimental devices to keep us alive, and so far, they've been doing a pretty damn good job. I trust his confidence that these devices will not fail. Now, you are going to sign that release paper, and I am going to walk out of here. Whether or not I have to break a ligament to make you do it is your choice."
There was a rustling of papers before Tony heard footsteps approaching the door. He moved away quickly trying not to get caught by the now easily agitated JC. She stepped out in the hallway and jumped when she saw him.
"Stark, what are you doing here?" she asked looking slightly flustered.
"I was looking for you. Did you talk with the doctor?" he asked trying to play dumb.
"Yes, and she reminded me why I hate coming to hospitals. Doctors are idiots," she said folding a piece of paper and pocketed it.
"Is there something wrong? Does this mean you won't be going home?" he asked trying to sound genuinely concerned.
"We had a small misunderstanding on the matter, but I managed to convince her otherwise," she answered, a smile creeping across her face.
"You threatened her, didn't you?" he said more as a statement than a question. He might have already known the answer, but she didn't know that. Even if he didn't know she had threatened the doctor, he would have guessed it anyways. She had a certain habit for it.
She gasped dramatically before saying, "I would never resort to physical violence. I am appalled that you would even consider thinking that I would do such a thing."
He raised his brow and gave her a knowing look. With a repressed smile she led them both down the hall. "Don't worry, Stark. I did not threaten her."
"Okay, JC. Whatever you say," he said giving up on her. She was never going to admit to it.
The C-17 wasn't exactly the private jet, but it was going in the right direction: home. Tony boarded the aircraft along with Rhodey and JC. Once they were in the air, Rhodey took a seat on the other side of the plane to stretch out on the bench seats for some sleep. Tony considered doing the same, but JC beat him to it and sprawled out across the seats, her feet coming up to use his lap as a foot rest.
"Comfortable, are we?" he asked, nearly shoving her off.
"Yes, actually," she replied smartly as she propped herself up and closed her eyes.
"Could you get your feet off my suit?" he said, mild irritation forming.
"I'm keeping an eye on you. Now I know you won't go anywhere without me knowing."
"We're on an airplane at about 50,000 feet. Where am I going to go?"
"With you around, I don't rule anything out anymore," she said with a smirk.
He sighed in defeat. Maybe in an hour or two he could convince her to let him lay down to get some sleep. Maybe some people could get rest in a sitting position. Tony wasn't one of them. With silence beginning to fall over the cabin, he felt the urge to break it. If he was going to stay awake, he needed something to do.
"What are you doing when you get home?" he asked JC.
She peeked at him briefly before shutting her eyes again. "I'm gonna see my son, and if he hasn't been keeping up on his school work, I'm gonna kick his butt," she answered.
"That's nice to say about someone who's probably been worried sick about you," he said.
"This hasn't been the first time I was deployed, hired, or otherwise sent out on a mission and put in peril. We made an agreement when he was old enough to understand. I had a dangerous job, but he was able to do more than sit and worry about me. That's what husbands are for."
"Is that why you divorced your husband? He didn't care?" Tony asked. There were only two reasons a woman changed her last name: marriage or divorce. She had never mentioned a husband in the cave and Pepper didn't mention one when she was looking for next of kin after the Japan incident, which left Tony to assume there wasn't one in the picture anymore. He figured he was treading on thin ice to even speak about it, but he was feeling gutsy.
She hesitated before answering, "He cared about his son, but he showed it the wrong way. That was why we split up."
"But you only recently changed your name. Why?"
She paused and opened her eyes to stare up at the roof of the plane. "Some things are hard to let go," she finally answered just barely above a whisper.
"You really loved him, didn't you?" The words were out before Tony could stop himself. It was harder than he thought it would be to see her think about the man. There were tears threatening to form in her eyes, and the pain he saw in them was stronger than he thought it would be.
She let out a tortured chuckle before answering, "Yeah, I did. But that's the problem with love. It can make you care about things, especially things that are bad for you." A single tear escaped. She quickly swiped it away before propping herself up to look at him. "Why are we talking about this?"
"I'm sorry," Tony said quickly, trying to think of something to say to distract her. "What grade is your son in anyway?" he asked changing the subject. The question seemed to work as she settled back down to her laying position.
"He's a junior this year, but he should be graduating early. He's top of his class, very smart, but very lazy. He barely tries anymore even though I've gotten him into advanced classes, even a few college courses. Nothing seems to work," she said sounding a bit exasperated.
"So, is he failing, or is he passing with honors?" Tony asked a bit confused.
"He's passing all right, and it really annoys me. I'll admit, I was no Einstein, but I was top of my class, too. I had to work hard for it, never graduated early, took a few AP courses, but I was still an average kid that had to crack open a book and actually read it to learn the information. He just barely skims it and can summarize in detail what he was supposed to learn. Kinda reminds me of you a bit," she said looking at him.
"I see why that annoys you even more," he quipped. "So, do you plan to do anything about it?" Tony asked unsure of what else he could say.
"I don't know if there's much else I can do. He wants the harder work just to stay challenged, but he doesn't want to leave high school to do it. I can't blame him, but I just don't want to see him-I'm sorry. I'm probably boring you. I try not to go into Mom-mode, but I can't help it sometimes. I'll just shut up now."
"No, it's all right. I don't mind. It makes you finally sound like a normal person for a change," he said with a small smile.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked cocking her brow.
"Well," Tony began being careful what he said. "Most of the time you always talk like you're part of some recruiting commercial or something like that, always talking about duty and responsibility and such. You rarely talk about your home or family or anything else for that matter. It's nice to hear you talk about something normal for a change."
She turned away and seemed to be in thought for a moment. "That's not entirely true. I talked about my father back in the cave," she countered.
"You only mentioned him once to say that he made you give up backgammon. That was it. That barely counts."
"Well, there's not much more to my family than that. My dad died when I was thirteen and Mom just before I came here, and my brother…well, I gave up on him when I was twelve. I disowned him and never spoke to him after he left home. I know it hurt my mother, but what he did to me was unforgiveable. She never knew and neither did Dad, but they both noticed when we grew further apart, more quarrelsome. That's about it for my family. Nothing real interesting there," she explained.
"What happened between you two? You and your brother, I mean," he asked curious.
"What is this? A psychiatric session? It was personal, and I don't like to think about it, so let's drop it. Now, if you don't mind terribly, I am going to take a nap. Wake me when we get ready to land," she said, closing her eyes.
Tony sat back and did the same when he figured there was nothing else he was going to get out of her. The only thing he was sorry for was that the last few hours they would be friendly to each other would be spent asleep.
At nearly two 'o clock in the afternoon their plane finally landed in California at Edward's Air Force Base without incident. After three long months Tony was finally coming home. Tony, accompanied by Rhodes, and JC made their way down the ramp as it opened on the tarmac. At the bottom Pepper and Happy could be seen with the Phantom behind them. Next to them stood a boy with auburn hair wearing jeans and a loose hoodie. There was no mistake that it was JC's son; he looked like her, stood like her, and probably acted like her, too.
As soon as the ramp was completely lowered JC ran toward him and embraced him in a long awaited tearful reunion. Tony watched them as Rhodey helped him down the ramp. An ambulance and gurney awaited him, but he turned them away. He had made it through hell and back without them, and he wasn't about to use them now that he was home.
Relieved that he was finally standing on U.S. soil he walked toward his assistant wanting nothing more than to hug her and Happy. They were his family and right now they both looked like hell from worrying over him. It made him wonder if he looked like that whenever he worried about JC.
"Your eyes are red," he said to Pepper. "Few tears for your long lost boss?" he said trying to keep it light.
"Tears of joy," she answered. "I hate job hunting."
"Yeah. Vacation's over," he said and headed for the car. He had work to do, and he couldn't do it standing here. He stole one more look before getting into the car to see JC about to get in the driver seat of a maroon SUV.
"Hey, JC. Give me about five minutes before you leave," he teased.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I've seen your driving before. That's the scariest thing I've ever seen," he joked.
She glared at him for a moment before promptly sticking her tongue out at him and got into her car. He smiled at her before doing the same.
"Happy, please take us to the hospital-"
"No," he said firmly.
"What?" Pepper asked obviously surprised.
"No is a complete answer."
"Tony, you need to go to a hospital. A doctor needs to look at you."
"I don't have to do anything. I have been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. First, I want an American cheeseburger, and two-"
"That's enough of that."
"Not what you think," he said knowing what she was thinking. "I want you to call for a Press Conference now."
"A Press Conference? What on earth for?" she asked.
"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first."
AN: Hope you all are enjoying the revised story. Don't forget to leave a review! They always make me happy :)
