Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Fourteen
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Fourteen:
Tony glanced around the room at the faces of the men and women whom he hired to run his company and saw a trend in their expressions. They ran the gamut from proud (two of the guys in marketing) to livid (head of security and a majority of the board members). Barely anyone touched their food. Except Tony-ever since he’d been fed nothing but gruel for three months he’d been ravenous but flighty. Sometimes he’d find himself so caught up in just thinking that he’d forget to eat so he felt like he was constantly running on an empty stomach.
Rhodey, whom Tony appointed as a senior member (as opposed to simply a liaison with the company) upon Obadiah Stane’s “mysterious disappearance,” finished chewing a slice of the porterhouse he’d chosen and interrupted the ranting head of security with a calm collectedness that seemed to be catching.
“Listen, what Mr. Stark said on Monday was rash, but,” he pointed with his fork at the man he’d interrupted, “Stark Industries has regained its previous drop in stocks and then some. So what are we arguing about here?”
Silence.
“I thought so,” Rhodey nodded and sliced another bite of his steak.
Tony literally wiped the smirk off his face with his good hand. “Listen, Stane sold our weapons to numerous terrorist cells around the world the entire time he served this company. There is only one way I can stop the wrong people from using them.”
“It’s far too dangerous, sir,” that livid head of security argued.
“Too bad. I’ve already taken out a weapons cache in Gulmira and I made it back no worse for the wear.”
All eyes were immediately drawn to his braced wrist and the slowly fading bruises on his face.
Tony snorted and cracked open a beer. “Please,” he scoffed. “I’m not some porcelain figurine that needs to be kept in a bulletproof casing and dusted every once in a while. I’m more than capable of handling things.”
“What about your PTSD?”
Tony’s face hardened.
Thankfully, Rhodes had his back. “Mr. Stark is being treated by a top military psychiatrist-and it’s not impairing his judgment.”
“What our main focus should be is rebuilding the main factory and focusing on arc technology. I’ve got some specs up here,” Tony tapped the side of his head, “for vehicular applications. Think about how the public will react to the idea of never needing to rely on fossil fuels again.”
This got a good response.
“I’ll render a few different engines this afternoon and the files will be on the company server for you all to look at by tomorrow morning at the latest.”
With that, Tony took a swig from his beer and left for his office with the bottle in hand.
Pepper was at his computer-watching something with the volume turned down low. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She had the lock chip that had a copy of the ghost drive plugged into the USB port.
“Pepper?”
She jerked in his chair and immediately swiped a hand at her cheeks. Quickly, before she could close the window she was looking at, Tony circled around behind her and took her right hand in his as she reached for the mouse.
The words being spoken were translated into English, but they might as well have still been speaking Dari for how much the images overpowered the dialogue.
That’s me…
The grainy footage showed Tony tied to a chair, covered in blood with seeping bandages stretched across his chest. The man who removed the hood yanked Tony’s head back by his hair and tossed him to face the camera again. Tony didn’t even remember feeling that… He remembered looking at the faces around him, but that?
The stain of blood across his chest started to grow and his breathing went from cautious to painfully shallow.
Tony laced his fingers through Pepper’s and squeezed. He wrapped his free arm across her breastbone and pulled her back against his belly in a backwards hug.
On the video, Tony Stark passed out and chaos erupted. He watched as they forced Yinsen out from beyond the frame and into the shot and ordered him to “fix the Prince of War.”
The file ended.
Pepper shifted in the chair and turned herself to bury her face in Tony’s chest. The arc reactor dug into her cheek but she didn’t care. She was holding on for dear life-his dear life-and she didn’t want to let go.
Because she shifted against him so fast, Pepper missed the expression of defeat on Tony’s face. She’d been expecting him to be the one to offer up some strength for the moment. Instead, she found herself supporting her boss as Tony slid to his knees and tried to melt against her. His hands flattened against her body as he tried to calm down-stop the flood of memories and bury himself within the moment with her…
“Tony…” she leaned down and pressed her lips to the crown of his head.
Pepper felt him breathe against her shirt and decided that he needed to do something normal-something that he did to occupy his mind. She grabbed him by the elbows and tugged. “Come on, Tony.”
She lifted him off the floor and helped him into his chair, wiping her eyes with one hand and keeping the other on his shoulder. Tony slowly came back to himself and cleared his throat.
Work. I need to work…
He closed the video file and opened his engineering program. Over his shoulder, Pepper made sure he calmed down before she dared to move at all. Instead of sitting at her desk as she usually did once Tony got into his “work mode,” the redhead sat on the sofa against the wall and started reading the new Stephen King book her mom bought her as a “gee-whiz, it’s Wednesday” gift.
Seven hours later, Pepper found herself driving home because Tony Stark told her to “get some real sleep” when she handed him his fourth cup of coffee.
On her way out of his office, he managed to tear himself away from the computer long enough to walk her to the elevators.
He’d kissed her cheek again.
And, feeling emboldened and slightly drowsy, Pepper Potts did the same to him just before the elevator doors closed on her smug expression.
TBC
Back | Forward
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Fourteen:
Tony glanced around the room at the faces of the men and women whom he hired to run his company and saw a trend in their expressions. They ran the gamut from proud (two of the guys in marketing) to livid (head of security and a majority of the board members). Barely anyone touched their food. Except Tony-ever since he’d been fed nothing but gruel for three months he’d been ravenous but flighty. Sometimes he’d find himself so caught up in just thinking that he’d forget to eat so he felt like he was constantly running on an empty stomach.
Rhodey, whom Tony appointed as a senior member (as opposed to simply a liaison with the company) upon Obadiah Stane’s “mysterious disappearance,” finished chewing a slice of the porterhouse he’d chosen and interrupted the ranting head of security with a calm collectedness that seemed to be catching.
“Listen, what Mr. Stark said on Monday was rash, but,” he pointed with his fork at the man he’d interrupted, “Stark Industries has regained its previous drop in stocks and then some. So what are we arguing about here?”
Silence.
“I thought so,” Rhodey nodded and sliced another bite of his steak.
Tony literally wiped the smirk off his face with his good hand. “Listen, Stane sold our weapons to numerous terrorist cells around the world the entire time he served this company. There is only one way I can stop the wrong people from using them.”
“It’s far too dangerous, sir,” that livid head of security argued.
“Too bad. I’ve already taken out a weapons cache in Gulmira and I made it back no worse for the wear.”
All eyes were immediately drawn to his braced wrist and the slowly fading bruises on his face.
Tony snorted and cracked open a beer. “Please,” he scoffed. “I’m not some porcelain figurine that needs to be kept in a bulletproof casing and dusted every once in a while. I’m more than capable of handling things.”
“What about your PTSD?”
Tony’s face hardened.
Thankfully, Rhodes had his back. “Mr. Stark is being treated by a top military psychiatrist-and it’s not impairing his judgment.”
“What our main focus should be is rebuilding the main factory and focusing on arc technology. I’ve got some specs up here,” Tony tapped the side of his head, “for vehicular applications. Think about how the public will react to the idea of never needing to rely on fossil fuels again.”
This got a good response.
“I’ll render a few different engines this afternoon and the files will be on the company server for you all to look at by tomorrow morning at the latest.”
With that, Tony took a swig from his beer and left for his office with the bottle in hand.
Pepper was at his computer-watching something with the volume turned down low. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She had the lock chip that had a copy of the ghost drive plugged into the USB port.
“Pepper?”
She jerked in his chair and immediately swiped a hand at her cheeks. Quickly, before she could close the window she was looking at, Tony circled around behind her and took her right hand in his as she reached for the mouse.
The words being spoken were translated into English, but they might as well have still been speaking Dari for how much the images overpowered the dialogue.
That’s me…
The grainy footage showed Tony tied to a chair, covered in blood with seeping bandages stretched across his chest. The man who removed the hood yanked Tony’s head back by his hair and tossed him to face the camera again. Tony didn’t even remember feeling that… He remembered looking at the faces around him, but that?
The stain of blood across his chest started to grow and his breathing went from cautious to painfully shallow.
Tony laced his fingers through Pepper’s and squeezed. He wrapped his free arm across her breastbone and pulled her back against his belly in a backwards hug.
On the video, Tony Stark passed out and chaos erupted. He watched as they forced Yinsen out from beyond the frame and into the shot and ordered him to “fix the Prince of War.”
The file ended.
Pepper shifted in the chair and turned herself to bury her face in Tony’s chest. The arc reactor dug into her cheek but she didn’t care. She was holding on for dear life-his dear life-and she didn’t want to let go.
Because she shifted against him so fast, Pepper missed the expression of defeat on Tony’s face. She’d been expecting him to be the one to offer up some strength for the moment. Instead, she found herself supporting her boss as Tony slid to his knees and tried to melt against her. His hands flattened against her body as he tried to calm down-stop the flood of memories and bury himself within the moment with her…
“Tony…” she leaned down and pressed her lips to the crown of his head.
Pepper felt him breathe against her shirt and decided that he needed to do something normal-something that he did to occupy his mind. She grabbed him by the elbows and tugged. “Come on, Tony.”
She lifted him off the floor and helped him into his chair, wiping her eyes with one hand and keeping the other on his shoulder. Tony slowly came back to himself and cleared his throat.
Work. I need to work…
He closed the video file and opened his engineering program. Over his shoulder, Pepper made sure he calmed down before she dared to move at all. Instead of sitting at her desk as she usually did once Tony got into his “work mode,” the redhead sat on the sofa against the wall and started reading the new Stephen King book her mom bought her as a “gee-whiz, it’s Wednesday” gift.
Seven hours later, Pepper found herself driving home because Tony Stark told her to “get some real sleep” when she handed him his fourth cup of coffee.
On her way out of his office, he managed to tear himself away from the computer long enough to walk her to the elevators.
He’d kissed her cheek again.
And, feeling emboldened and slightly drowsy, Pepper Potts did the same to him just before the elevator doors closed on her smug expression.
TBC
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