Prologue
“We can’t do this anymore, Tony.” Pepper said with exasperation laced in her voice. “No, we can, Pep, really we can.” Tony didn’t even care that he sounded desperate. They were weeks away from their wedding, her altered wedding dress would be delivered any day now. He was ready to spend the rest of his life with her.
“Tony, I love working with you, I love being friends with you, but I don’t think a relationship, a marriage, will be good for us. I want someone that I can be with, that will be with me.” She was referencing the times he needs to stay in his lab and workshop when he needs to think about things that kept him awake. “I don’t think we’re enough for each other, emotionally.” Her tone became more gentle as she slipped the sapphire engagement ring off of her finger, carefully placing it on Tony’s palm.
“I love you, Tony, but we can’t do this anymore. I hope you realize that soon.” Pepper held his hand, sad smile on her face. Tony didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything at all for a few minutes. The silence lasted a few more minutes, broken occasionally by one of them sniffling.
“Okay, um,” Tony stood up and released Pepper’s hand “I’m just gonna pack a bag and uh, leave for the night.” Pepper nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. We can talk about this later, sort everything out.” She responded.
Tony walked into what was once their shared bedroom, taking a duffle bag out of his closet and stuffing it with random articles of clothing that he thought he needed. The feeling in the entire penthouse was dismal, the gravity of the situation sinking in like a dense fog. Here he was, 35 years old, having the engagement with the woman of his dreams get called off weeks before the ceremony.
He thought about where he could stay for the night. He had properties worldwide, he could get on a plane and be in Italy in a few hours if he wanted to, but he didn’t want to be alone. Natasha, Steve, and Clint were on a mission somewhere in Europe, Thor was in space, and Bruce was in South Korea working on tech with Helen Cho and her team.
There was only one place he knew he could go.