Chapter 1
It was Pepper’s idea to go on a jog. Tony’s nervous energy was starting to make her nervous, and to make matters worse, she couldn’t figure out what had caused the sudden anxiety that had been rippling off her fiancé for the past 48 hours.
He’d been more quiet than normal, disappearing into his lab for hours at a time, and when they were together, he would constantly be looking at his phone or staring off into space.
This type of behavior wasn’t exactly new, but it had been a while since the last time Pepper had seen him go down this path. He was distant, and honestly, it scared her.
But he didn’t argue the jog, and she was grateful for that. But she barely held back her annoyance when he put on his new arc reactor - that he didn’t need - and the jogging suit she knew could transition into an iron man suit. It was one of his newest creations, and she’d only seen him wear it a couple of times.
An hour later, their jog had slowed to a walk, and she was sure Tony hadn’t missed her concerned (and admittedly slightly agitated) glances. He kept tapping his fingers against his side as they walked and glancing over at her, then opening his mouth like he was about to say something, only to snap his jaw shut and look away.
She couldn’t take it anymore.
“Tony, if you don’t just spit it —“
“Do you remember Tommy?”
Pepper came to an abrupt halt, her eyebrows shooting up, and her expression immediately softening at the mention of Tommy.
Tommy. Tony’s son.
Tony never talked about Tommy. Ever.
There were only three people still alive that had ever met Tommy. That even knew about his existence. Rhodey, Happy, and herself.
After letting out a shaky breath, still reeling from the sudden question — whatever she had been expecting — this definitely was NOT it. When she looked at Tony, he was standing there staring at her expectantly, and there was something unreadable about his expression that put her on edge.
“Tony, Of course. How could I - What—“
“What if I told you he was still alive?” He interrupted her again, and his hands started to fidget absently with his jacket.
Pepper felt her heart clench tightly in her chest. A whole new level of worry and concern washed over her. Something was definitely wrong. What could have possibly happened to warp his mind into believing his son was alive, his son who had been dead for nearly 13 years.
“Tony...” But before she even said anything, he was shaking his head at her, and waving his hand to get her to stop talking. He set his jaw with determination, his eyes pleading.
“What if I told you, I knew where he was. Where he was living right now.” His voice was barely above a whisper, and he had stepped closer, closing the gap between them to take her hands and, jesus , his hands were so sweaty.
“Tony, please...” Now her tone was pleading. Begging him not to go down this path. She remembered how he was the first few months after Tommy had disappeared... Had died. It wasn’t until now that Pepper recognized that same, almost manic expression.
Just as quickly as he’d taken her hands, he dropped them and stepped away again.
“Pep... What if I told you, you’ve already met him. We both have. What if... Jesus, Pepper,” he paused to drag his hands down his face. “Pepper, we just had him over for dinner last week after he...” His shoulders slumped and his eyebrows raised pointedly at her, waiting for her to figure it out.
It only took seconds for it to click. To land on the answer he was desperately trying to get to.
“Peter.”
The manic laugh that fell from Tony’s lips startled her and she took a step back, her eyebrows furrowed with concern.
“Tony... It’s not possible, we would have —“
She cut herself short, the sharp look from Tony warning her not to finish that sentence.
“Okay, let’s just back up a moment, okay?So this is what’s been consuming you over the last couple days? Why didn’t you -“
“I needed to be sure. I couldn’t wrap my head around —“
An orange glowing circle appeared in the middle of the park. The second an unfamiliar man came walking through, she knew this conversation was unfortunately going to be postponed.
Before she knew it, he was apologizing and being whisked away to apparently save the world again, leaving her alone, and still reeling from everything Tony had just said to her.