Two
"Why ow?" Bruce asked. He had followed me upstairs. I didn't mind. Bruce and I are very much alike, all science like, except I don't turn into a big green rage monster. I really do wonder how he keeps it under control. We had a good bromance going on, but he'll never admit it.
"I had an image of Steve and Fury making out stuck in my head. She kicked me, what can I do?" I admitted. Apparently this threw Bruce into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"It wasn't that funny. I was trying to get it out of my head."
"I know, I know." He breathed through his laughing. "I'll try very hard to not laugh when we see them talking tonight at the press conference."
"I never thought of it that way. Oh, God. That thought will be with me all of tonight." I gestured to the door, " Do you want to come in, have a drink, take a shower, find clothes that aren't ripped up?"
"Yeah, I do need that. I'll pass on the drink."
"Well, I need a fucking drink."
"Don't let me stop you." Bruce chuckled.
That's why I love Bruce, he's got me. Spangles was all duty and honor, blahdy, blah. To think, so was everyone else on the Avengers. Duty, honor, save the world. Bruce and I, we were there to show off what we knew and kick some ass from time to time.
Bruce went off to the guest bathroom, and I to the bar. I poured myself a whiskey over ice, sipped it while staring out over Manhattan. It sure is pretty, when it's not being attacked by alien monsters. The sun was setting over the buildings as I finished my drink. Off to the shower, I guess. Since Bruce was here, there was no chance of getting out of this press thingy or even showing up late.
I peeled off the Black Sabbath t-shirt I was wearing and dropped it on the floor. Pepper would pick that up tomorrow. I stopped, looking at the dirty shirt on the floor. That's right, Pepper's not here anymore. She admitted to cheating on me with Aldrich Killian before she was injected with Extremis serum. He was now dead, but she claimed she needed some space. Now I needed another drink to re-forget that she left me.
I finally ended up in the shower after two more drinks. The shower lit up in the faint blue glow of my Arc Reactor. I sighed thinking about Pepper, the most gorgeous red headed girl, and she left me. I have slept with so many women, but she was the only one I loved. She was gone, she walked out of my life. She should have ripped my heart out on her way out. It felt like she opened another large hole in my chest. I desperately tried filling that hole with booze.
I would have stayed at the bar until I was incoherent, but Bruce reminded me that we were going to be late. So now I was sulking in the shower.
"Tony?" Bruce yelled into the room. "We're going to be late!"
I didn't answer, my head leaned against the wall with the water running over me. I stared at the floor; anything not to face the world without Pepper, my Pepper.
"There's an open bar." Bruce chimed in a sing song voice. Now he was speaking my language.
"Coming!" I shouted back.