The moment Ned got wind of the news, he immediately called Peter,
"Dude! Oh my God!"
On the opposite end of the line, Peter's smirk was evident as he imagined Ned's probably wide-eyed surprise,
"You heard the news."
"Your Dad's Iron Man? He's a superhero now?"
"Yeah, he is. A bit of late for you to know, you know."
"Having a vacation in a country with no signal sucks and that's crazy!"
"Yeah, it's insane," Peter laughed, still finding it hard to believe that his dad is now a superhero.
"I gotta meet him!"
"Dude you already met him, he's my Dad."
"Yeah! But not in the suit! I haven't met Iron Man!"
"Ned— Iron Man and Dad and Tony Stark, they're all the same."
"Alright, but I gotta go there and meet him again in his Iron Man suit! I miss California. It's freezing here. Let's swim again, maybe jump off that cliff this time."
"And what? Die?"
"Peter, c'mon."
"You can come with me at the Expo."
"What expo?"
"The Stark Expo, the one Grandpa created a long time ago for the exhibition of new tech and inventions. Dad decided to open it again there in Queens in six months. We're gonna be making a lot of trips to New York. We'll be there."
"That's awesome, dude!"
"Yeah, I gotta go. I'm almost done with my Iron Man helmet!"
"Oh my God! You know I'm so jealous right now. Can you build me the boots?"
"Even Dad won't allow me that. Talk to you soon! Bye!"
Peter hung up the phone in his room and swiftly ran towards the lab. It had only been a week since the big reveal.
For the past week, while his Dad tinkered with another suit, Peter designed his own Iron Man helmet. The entire world was abuzz and shocked to learn that the great Tony Stark was Iron Man, the first superhero to reveal his identity publicly. He remained the number one topic in the news, with people around the world starting to idolize him. His fan base grew rapidly on a global scale.
"Hey bud, you ready for this?"
"Yeah, Dad! Let's rock and roll!" He tried the prototype to see if it fit his head. Since he still had little hands for building, most of the hardware was cut out by Jarvis, but the tech behind it was done by his programming. Dad just monitored all of his codes and made sure he didn't get clumsy.
In just a few days, he had already completed it, and it was the exact replica of Iron Man's mask, except JARVIS wasn't integrated into it.
Peter tried it on for the first time, and the blue lights flickered, scanning the area with diagnostics, longitude, latitude, and all the works.
All that could be seen from the mask was also recorded into Tony's server, and it was called the Baby Monitor Protocol. He could also track his son using it.
"Yes, Dad, it's working!" Peter said with excitement, a triumphant grin on his face, while Dad stood across from him.
"Now I have an Iron-baby."
Tony lowered his head in front of Peter, tapping his shoulders, "I'm proud of you, bud."
"Thanks, Dad! It's like stepping into what you see when you put on the suit. So cool!" Peter eagerly made his way to the full-length mirror to get a glimpse of himself.
Channelling his inner Tony Stark, Peter declared, "I am Iron Man," perfectly impersonating his dad's iconic words.
Tony couldn't help but laugh, a fond smile gracing his face, as he adored the silliness.
"I'm not gonna take this off. I'll design gloves next that look like your hand blasters!"
Since the beginning, Peter has worn his title as Iron Man's number one fan proudly, and his dad has been his unwavering number one supporter in turn.
Tony tenderly placed a kiss on his son's helmet before gently removing it from Peter's head, "Steady there Iron Man. How bout we take a break? Want some hotdogs? Let's grab some hotdogs outside."
"Are we gonna fly out there Dad? Let's fly, please."
Oh no, he's giving that pleading look again.
"Uh, no, Pete, that's too fast for a young kid, can't do that. I'm gonna hear again from Pepper."
"Please, Dad. Please... I'm wearing the mask, it has an oxygen system right?"
"Of course it is."
Despite Tony's resolve, Peter persisted with those endearing puppy-dog eyes, eventually melting away his resistance,
"Oh fine. You're gonna put us in a lot of trouble, kid. Let's suit up. Wear your jacket."
Bursting with excitement, Peter couldn't contain his joy, "Yay!" as he prepared to experience the thrill of flying for the very first time.
"Hang tight, kid."
Within minutes, Tony suited up and soared into the sky from the mansion, carrying Peter in his arms, both masked up. Peter's eyes widened with a delightful mix of excitement and happiness, relishing the extraordinary experience of flying for the first time alongside his Dad. The bird's-eye view unfolded, revealing an amazing landscape beneath them.
Opting for the city's finest hotdog joint, they grabbed takeout and headed to the Hollywood sign, enjoying their food with a breathtaking panoramic view of the city.
"So how's your first flying lesson?" Tony asked between bites.
The delight in Peter's eyes was unmistakable, "It was incredible! The view, the feeling—it was so much fun!"
"Glad you liked it bud."
"This hotdog sandwich is amazing," Peter said with a happy sigh, enjoying the moment. Leaning against his dad, he rested his head on his side, feeling the warmth of his dad's arm draped over his shoulders.
"Really? Mine tasted weird."
"Huh? But we had the same order."
"Yeah.." That's weird. Tony couldn't shake off the weirdness of it all, his taste buds are in a wrack these days.
"Thanks, Dad for taking me flying today."
"Well, I couldn't resist those eyes now, am I?"
Peter laughed, "No, you couldn't."
Tony accomplished yet another suit within a couple of days, but a month later, his relentless drive kept him from achieving a full eight hours of sleep. Instead, he found himself consistently managing only three to five hours. To cope with the sleepless nights, Tony directed his energy into enhancing his suits, with a focus on achieving greater mobility for impromptu suit-ups anywhere.
"Dad, are you okay?" Peter asked, his concern deepening upon hearing a barfing sound from his dad's room, so he went to check.
"Oh God." Clutching the toilet, Tony felt like he was going to die. The room spun, and waves of nausea overwhelmed him, and he didn't know why. He spilled out vomit until he could almost empty his stomach into the toilet. He had just had a glass of scotch last night to induce sleep. This couldn't be a hangover. Who even gets a hangover from a glass of scotch? He had consumed a lot more drinks before and had never experienced such a severe hangover.
"Peter, don't come in here. I'm fine." Tony called, closing down the lid of the toilet. "Go downstairs and eat your breakfast. I'll be there in a minute."
He almost can't stand the pain. A migraine and nausea.
What the fuck is happening to me?
"Are you sure? Do you want me to call Pepper and 911?" Peter asked. He had a feeling something was wrong.
"No, no. Don't call anyone. I'm fine. I'm sure." Tony tried his best to stand, wash his face, and gargle a mouthwash.
Is it something he ate? No, the food from last night's dinner, he had it before.
He fought his way to stand up, headed downstairs, and immediately drank lots of water. He sat beside Peter at the breakfast table on their terrace, which had a lovely view of the ocean.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Your eyes are red."
"Just eye strain from staring at the computer so much."
"But you don't have it before."
"It's nothing, your Dad's just getting old, bud," Tony reassured, giving his son's head a comforting pat, trying to ease any concerns his son might have.
"Don't overwork yourself, Dad."
"I won't buddy. Don't worry about it, alright?"
"Will you drive me to school today?"
Tony used to drive his son to school every morning. Since he came back, he wanted to make up for the lost time they should have spent together. However, even if he wanted to, his senses were askew from the dizziness. He didn't want any accidents to happen because of that.
"Not today, bud. I'll have Happy drive you just for today," he said, making the call to have Happy come to the house.
"Okay."
Tony attempted to sample all the delicious food on the table, but all he could taste was bland nothingness. He nearly cursed under his breath.
After breakfast, Happy came to the house to pick up Peter.
At the front door, just before parting ways for school, Tony looked into Peter's eyes, "I love you, Pete."
"I love you too, Dad," Peter said, his smile masking the concern in his eyes as he held his father in a reassuring hug.
"I'll see you later okay. I'll pick you up after school," he said with a smile, planting a loving kiss on his son's head and embracing him in a tight hug. Waving goodbye as he watched the car rev away.
He headed to the lab afterwards. He extracted blood from his arm to a vial and put it in a blood scanner for blood monitoring.
"Jarvis, check my blood and scan my body. Is it food poisoning? Stomach problems?" Tony waited for a few minutes, it couldn't be something bad.
"Sir, my diagnosis is that you are experiencing signs of Metal poisoning, specifically Palladium Poisoning."
Instantly connecting the dots, he figured it out, "The core." He checked his arc reactor and found the Palladium core decaying completely. "It has been eroded by the neutron bombardment, releasing..."
"Poison, Sir. The core that has been keeping you alive, unfortunately, is also the one that is killing you."
"Can we— Uh, can we run full diagnostics to every known element that can replace the Palladium."
"Right away, Sir."
"Thanks, Jarvis."
Sinking into his chair, Tony let out a breath, weariness in his posture. He can't make sense of what's happening to him.
He's alive... he came back, he's home, and now.. he's dying, again?
Is it that fast enough? Is that it?
He can't leave his son alone again. He can't.
"Is there any way we can counteract the symptoms?"
"Chlorophyll has been known by its ability to bind to and remove toxic heavy metals from the bloodstream, Sir."
"An antioxidant, right. To increase the quantity of red blood cells, reducing inflammation. Order the finest liquid chlorophyll, Jarvis.
"Yes, Sir."
Tony began replacing the destroyed Palladium core with a new one he had kept in reserve. As he didn't know that he would need a few more, he started working with additional palladium cores to be stored. He also started the permutations to every known element that can replace the palladium core of the arc reactor.
He can't give up hope unless there really isn't a cure for this.
"Dude, how does it feel like to be the son of the Iron Man?"
Peter and Ned are drawing sketches and colouring their drawings in Ned's room. Peter visited his best friend while Tony and Pepper headed to Flushing to observe the Stark Expo grounds being renovated for a more futuristic design.
"What? Ned, he's my Dad, he's just my Dad to me."
Ned looked like a total fangirl earlier when Dad dropped him off at Ned's house.
"Hey, Ned. You're growing up pretty fast now huh. How are you?" Dad said to Ned tapping the boy's shoulders when they went to their house.
"Iron Man! Mr. Stark! Hey, um, I'm okay. Super okay." Ned said gushing as if it was his first time seeing Tony Stark.
Peter rolled his eyes. "C'mon Ned, let's go. You're embarrassing me in front of my Dad."
Ned just completely ignored Peter and still stared at Iron Man while handing him a drawing. "Can you sign my drawing of you?"
"Yeah, yeah sure of course. So Peter's gonna stay here a while. We'll pick him up tomorrow." Dad said while signing the drawing of Iron Man punching Iron Monger.
"Yeah, No problem Mr. Stark. I'm happy to have Peter here."
"Here you go, kid."
"Wow, Thank you. Thank you, Mr Stark." Ned stared at the signed drawing. His eyes sparkled with joy, while Dad patted Ned's head. Meanwhile, Dad talked to Mrs. Leeds for a moment.
"Your Dad's really so so cool, Peter. Can we exchange Dad's?" Ned whispered to Peter.
"Peter once again rolled his eyes, sighing, "You're crazy, Ned."
"Okay, you two, have fun," Dad said going to them. "Pete, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I love you bud." Dad kissed his forehead.
"Thanks, Dad. I love you too." Peter hugged his Dad before his car drove off.
"Okay, let me rephrase the question, how does it feel like to be the son of a superhero?" Ned asked while colouring his new Iron Man drawing.
"Well, it's awesome with all the cool stuff, but..."
Ned glanced up, catching a glimpse of concern in Peter's eyes.
"I thought it was okay with you? You said your Dad asked you if it's okay with you and you said okay, right?"
"Right, it's okay with me."
"But what?"
"But I don't know, Ned."
Ned shrugged, "Makes sense, you're always worrying about him. But you don't need to now Peter, do yourself a favor and relax. He's more than alive now you know and he's more than capable of protecting himself and he's going to protect you."
"Yeah.."
"So why are you still worried?"
"Something's wrong about him Ned, and I don't know why."
"Why? Like what?"
"Like his eyes are often red and he's often at the toilet vomiting. It looks like he's sick and he says that he's not. He said his Doctor said he was okay. Sometimes I can feel he's sad. Isn't that weird?"
"That's probably nothing Peter. You mentioned before he drinks alcohol right? Maybe hangover?"
Peter shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah. Pepper always gets mad with him if she catches him like that."
It had been two months since he first heard his dad feeling sick in the bathroom, and there were frequent moments when he saw it happen again. His dad tried to assure him that nothing was wrong and he was perfectly okay, but the feeling just wouldn't go away.
Since then, his Dad had been spending quality time with him, taking random trips abroad for vacations on weekends. Pepper got upset with Dad not being able to attend work meetings. She always reminded him that he was still the CEO of his company and needed to be responsible, but Dad just kept being stubborn, leaving most of the work with Pepper.
They often had spontaneous fly-out trips that surprised him. He couldn't say he didn't love it, but there was a lingering sense of wondering why Dad had been doing this.
"Oh, you went to your Dubai house last month, right? How was it?"
"We rode a camel and Dad almost fell out of it,"
Peter laughed as he reminisced about the time when his Dad had almost lost his balance when the camel started to stand up abruptly after kneeling, catching them off guard while they were riding on its back.
"Then we went to the Desert safari riding a four-by-four truck. It was scary but fun! It's almost like falling at the edge of the cliff! The desert is so large, that there's literally sand for miles and miles on end. Then we met their King there."
"Whoa. God, you're so lucky. Can I also go there someday?"
"Yeah, we can arrange that. Dad likes you, he'll be glad if you come with us."
"Yes! Then he'll have us flying carrying us in his Iron Man suit!"
"Oh, Ned," Peter said as he made a facepalm.
They finished their drawings afterwards.
"Oh wait, I forgot something." Peter rushed downstairs. When he came back he was carrying a paper bag in his hands.
"Here Ned, this one's for you."
"What's this?"
"A birthday gift. Dad and I picked it out."
Ned started to open up the paper bag and pull out its contents.
"Oh my god, Peter."
Ned stared in awe at the Lego Set of Iron Man and a set of gloves that looked like hand blasters.
"Dude, thank you! You're the best!" Ned hugged Peter.
"No problem, Ned."
The next few hours were spent building the Lego set of Iron Man, and Peter wore his Iron Man helmet the entire time. Ned asked to try it, but unfortunately, it didn't fit, as Ned was a bigger kid.
"That's so cool. What does it do?"
Ned observed the blue lights on the screen, even though he hadn't tried the mask.
"It just measures location, tells weather forecast and time, scans the room, and you can see better in the dark. JARVIS isn't integrated in here unlike in my Dad's"
"And you programmed that all there?"
"Yeah, with a little help from Dad."
"Awesome! Teach me how to program."
"Uh, okay." Peter began teaching Ned the basics of programming on his laptop, which his best friend initially had difficulty understanding. They spent the rest of the night practicing to improve their skills. The following day, Ned had become somewhat inclined towards programming. Afterward, Peter came to the realization that he had introduced his best friend to a newfound hobby and skill set, which might eventually rival his own skills.
"All establishments are ready. The DOD is okay with the opening and I'm sure your speech is ready. The press, guests, the show and the list of presenters were all lined up and finalized. So far, everything's good to go."
Pepper said as they walked along the Japanese-styled Garden of the large dome at the Stark Expo. It was the day before the Grand Opening. They had already finished visiting every establishment for Opening Day while Peter and Ned were sightseeing with Happy at the Hall of Legacy and Hall of Mobility.
Tony expressed his gratitude, "Thanks, Pepper. It's really coming together now," as he looked out at the peaceful garden, the sound of the river waters contributing to a calming atmosphere.
"But honestly Tony, for you to run this thing for a whole year is such a waste of money and time."
"Doesn't really matter now. About time we show Stark Industries as a fun and frolic tech conglomerate. Past that terror weapons manufacturing shit, right?"
"Tony, what's going on?"
She had been getting stressed out by all the decisions her boss had been making in his life, and mostly, she was the one who worked and compensated for it all.
"Going what?"
He's been drinking his liquid chlorophyll again like his life depends on it.
"Why are you always drinking that thing?
"This? Oh, this is Chlorophyll."
"Really? Giving me that excuse for months then I see you at the toilet spilling your guts out from a hangover, then what, just to avoid your meetings? Then you fly out at the jet with Peter every weekend."
She's trying her best not to lose her patience. There must be a reason why Tony's been doing this.
"I want to spend quality time with him, Pep. Make sense for lost time. You know that right?"
Tony spent every waking moment feeling grateful that he had another life yet to live. Ever since he learned that his demise would be soon enough with no clue of a cure, he spent every moment of his life, maximizing it by spending as much time as possible with Peter. They did things they had never done before and went to different places that gave them new experiences. Tony wanted Peter to remember all the good times. They took pictures every now and then, even if it was just an ordinary day. He always took videos and pictures of Peter, all safely stored in an album.
"I know that, and I'm not saying you avoid spending time with your son, but you're also needed at your own company, Tony. I'm trying to run your company and there's only so much I can do."
Tony felt guilt wash over him. He had wanted to attend the meetings most of the time, but he was often prevented by the painful symptoms he had been experiencing. He had been drinking almost three litres of liquid chlorophyll every day, and it could keep the symptoms at bay, but not always. Besides extreme nausea, he had also experienced fibromyalgia and migraine headaches that had worsened by the minute. He still experienced some of that sometimes when his blood toxicity doubled while putting on the suit. Over time, the symptoms might get worse, potentially affecting his liver or kidneys.
"And you're doing an excellent job at doing my job, Miss Potts."
"Tony... really. What's wrong?"
"I got cooking lessons with Peter. Figured I'd teach myself how to cook for him."
Tony tried to steer the conversation away. He was on the verge of revealing everything to Pepper. He had been carrying a burden that was difficult to accept, worrying every day that he would just lose control. Every day, he was afraid he would die without even saying goodbye to his son.
He's not ready.
He still wants to see Peter grow up to be a fine young man, see him off to college and one day take over the company if he likes it.
To more days with his little one, that's what he wants.
For the past week, Tony and Peter attended a cooking lesson, where they were instructed by a chef from a renowned culinary school. Initially, it was mostly Tony doing his best to avoid burning anything and refraining from cursing at every slip-up. Eventually, with practice, he mastered the skills without causing any kitchen disasters. He successfully learned to make omelettes, and perfectly cooked waffles, and even achieved proficiency in searing a good steak.
"What? You hate cooking."
"Well, just for a change. I can cook an omelette now. A perfectly cooked Omelette. You like that?"
"That's great, but seriously, what's going on?"
Pepper looked him straight in the eyes, pondering what was going on as if she could read his soul. They stopped at the river bridge of the garden.
"I'm dying." He unexpectedly babbled it out. Unaware that he had already said it out loud. Just the way Pepper's eyes looked at him had momentarily hypnotized him into revealing the truth.
"What?"
"I— uh, nothing." Tony went back to his senses.
Stupid. I shouldn't have said that.
"You're dying? How on earth are you dying?" Pepper's expression shifted to one of skepticism. Did she heard it right?
A heavy silence hung in the air, and Tony sighed, realizing there was no turning back. The topic couldn't be avoided any longer, Pepper wasn't going to let it go.
"I'm dying Pepper," he confessed, his tone reflecting the seriousness of his condition.
Pepper's incredulous expression matched her words, "You're kidding, right? I mean you just almost died twice, and now you're dying... again?"
Pepper can't believe the words she just heard from his boss.
The love of her life... is dying.
Her system can't absorb it. She hasn't even told him her feelings yet.
Tony's words carried a sense of defeat, "I have no cure for it this time."
"You're serious?"
"I wish I'm not."
"Oh my God, Tony."
Pepper felt her knees going weak and she quickly grabbed Tony's arm for support.
"Alright, let's sit here." Tony quickly lent a hand and they went to a nearby bench and sat.
"How did this happen?"
"Well, my Arc Reactor has a Palladium core, which, unfortunately, is slowly poisoning me. I've searched for every known element that can replace this but there's none so far."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh, nope I'm not. C'mon Pep, I'm sure." Tony looked as if wondering why she even had to ask.
"That's why the stark expo… spending time with Peter, your hangovers are not really hangovers?"
"Pepper, ever since I had Peter in my care. I only drank occasionally during events or when I can't sleep. A glass of scotch won't really do that much of a hangover."
Pepper's frustration resurfaced, "Then why didn't you tell me!" hitting Tony's arm.
"Aw, Ouch Pep! Why—"
"You could've told me!"
With her voice on the verge of a shout, Pepper's emotions reached a breaking point. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she fought to keep from breaking into full-blown tears.
"If I knew this was going to be your reaction, I really shouldn't have told you." A laugh escaped Tony's lips as he wiped away her tears, not wanting to witness her in such a state. Pepper started hitting him once more, and Tony only laughed more.
"Okay, Okay. C'mon Potts. Calm down."
"How can you, how can you even laugh right now?"
"You're funny. But seriously, there's no point in telling. And I was hoping I can get a viable replacement before everything turns to shit."
"Does Peter know this?"
"Oh, god, no. He can't know any of this. I've worried that little kid too much already. I'm just— I'm not ready Pepper. I can't leave him alone again. Promise me you'll never tell him."
His eyes glossed over with unshed tears, his heart always ached at the thought of leaving Peter alone.
"I promise, Tony." She hugged him afterwards, giving each other the comfort the both of them needed.
They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps running toward them, accompanied by the sight of a little boy ecstatically smiling,
"Dad!"
"There's my little spawn."
Peter was welcomed by his dad's open arms.
Holding his son close, "I missed you, bud." Tony said, sniffing his powder-scented hair.
"Dad, check this out! There are loads of Iron Man attractions here." Peter exclaimed, holding an Iron Man-shaped waffle in his hand. "You've got to taste this."
Peter offered the food to his dad, who gladly took a bite, "That's quite good," Tony said, agreeing.
Not forgetting Pepper, Peter also offered her a bite, "You're so sweet, sweetheart. Thank you." Pepper said, playfully pinching his nose, causing laughter to bubble up between them.
Happy and Ned then came along. Happy looked exhausted.
"These two's gonna kill me, boss. We went around the whole Expo and they never seemed to lose energy." Happy grunted, sweating profusely.
"Uh oh, you guys broke Happy?" Tony quipped, addressing the kids, who responded with nothing but giggles.
"Thanks, Hogan, you can relax now. It's my turn for these two."
"Thanks, boss."
"Alright, boys, where do you want to go next?"
The remainder of the afternoon was filled with exploration into various attractions at the Stark Expo until the boys finally wore themselves out. After ensuring Ned's safe return to Queens, they headed to their familiar Royal Suite at The Plaza in Manhattan.
"How long have you known?" Pepper asked at the edge of the bed.
Peter's sleeping soundly in Tony's arms, just caressing his son's hair. Giving gentle kisses on his head.
"Five months ago."
"Oh, Tony, I'm so sorry."
"Yes, I'm sorry too."
"I'll let you two alone. We'll talk tomorrow."
"Thanks for everything, Pepper."
"Oh god, I can't. I'm not gonna make it." Tony vomited his guts out at the toilet while wearing his Iron Man suit, "Oh god!" With a theatrical expression of pain, Tony let out exaggerated cries.
Pepper swung open the bathroom door, revealing Tony Stark in an awful state.
Beneath the shadow of a military plane, the stage was set for the grand opening of Stark Expo. About to carry his big surprise before his opening speech. Peter's at the Pavilion waiting for him.
"I'm serious, give me some space. Don't see me like this."
Pepper sighed, her gaze firm, "I told you not to do this and you insisted. There's no turning back now."
"I can't get through it," Tony confessed, grappling to get back on his feet.
"We don't have time for this. We have to go. Peter's waiting for you."
The name of his son somehow gave him motivation to stand up.
"Oh, god, you don't want to see that," grabbing tissues to wipe his mouth. After flushing the toilet and closing the lid, he finally stood.
"Do I look weird?"
"You look like every day, Tony. You look like you just came from a hangover."
"Here, drink that." She handed him his chlorophyll drink and he sat on one of the folded chairs.
"I'm beginning to think this ain't working anymore. god, why! Give me some, give me some Advil."
"I don't have Advil. I've got Motrin."
"Pepper, there's something seriously wrong with giving a grown man Motrin." Tony pointed out, his voice rising.
Pepper started to lose her patience. They began shouting at each other as they quarrel again," What? It's a brand name, Tony. It's Ibuprofen!"
"I'm out of my cycle Pepper!"
The room was filled with their raised voices, mirroring the dynamics of a married couple engaged in a minor disagreement, more so a petty fight between husband and wife.
"For God's sake!" Pepper motioned for Tony to stand up already holding his arm, assisting him.
"Abort mission! Tell them to stop! We're dropping."
"We're not! We're not aborting the mission. Do you have any idea the amount of effort we made for the DOD to approve this!"
"Send them flowers."
"We're over the drop zone."
"What?"
They locked eyes with each other, Pepper smirking, "Yes."
"Let's do this, baby." Tony said, and Pepper couldn't help but chuckle at her boss's theatrics. Their sudden mood swings are their thing.
The hangar slowly opened, and the harsh wind blew through.
"I know I can be selfish sometimes and I know I don't say it enough.." Tony said, as if he's about to confess, but decided to shift gears instead, "But how's my hair?"
"You said that before."
"I know but this time I mean it. Do I need more product? You like wind-blown look?"
"Yeah, You look good."
Pepper smiled at that familiar silliness.
"Okay, give me a smooch for good luck. I might not make it back."
Instead, Pepper pressed a tender kiss onto the Iron Man helmet she cradled in her hands before casually tossing it from the plane.
"Go get it, boss."
Tony leaped boldly from the plane, his voice carried by the wind as he declared, "You complete me!" just before descending, skillfully dodging the exploding fireworks from the Expo.