Chapter 59
Pepper tried to understand the situation they were in, but no matter how hard she tried, she didn't understand. They were still on the plane, but they certainly did not land in the Maldives as planned. When she looked out the window, she could see in the distance the tall buildings that no doubt stood in New York, which meant they weren't too far away. They probably flew around because she doubted they had taken off so short ago. If Teresa contacted the team, they should be here any minute, but if the brunette contacted them, she had to do it while Pepper was out. She understood that they had been kidnapped, everyone would understand that, but what she couldn't understand was why she wasn't chained as Tony. Maybe Teresa didn't consider her dangerous, but would she really underestimate her so much? She knew she wasn't a superhero, but what would keep her from getting up and running for the Iron Man suit on the other side of the room?
"I see Sleeping Beauty woke up," the incoming brown-head girl chuckled, and Pepper immediately got an answer to her question. "I didn't tie your hands because I know you won't try anything, but one wrong move and we'll fix it right away."
"How do you know that?" Pepper asked in her director's voice. She couldn't let her know how scared she was and she could control emotions perfectly only when she switched to her work herself.
"Because I have your sleeping husband, who is completely defenseless. And your son will join us shortly," she replied, then laughed as if she had just said a hilarious joke. "Even though he's not your son," she grinned.
Pepper narrowed her eyes dangerously. "You don't believe it yourself, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"There's going to be something to it," she muttered thoughtfully. "It simply doesn't matter. You won't hurt me because you don't have it in you," she said contemptuously as if it were a bad thing.
"You're wrong. I would do anything to protect Peter," she said in a firm voice, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
Teresa was impressed. "Interestingly. But it won't be necessary, I don't want to hurt Peter," she informed her.
"How do I know you're not lying?" Pepper wanted to know, relieved by her words, though she couldn't tell if the brunette was telling the truth. She wanted to kill him three days ago. Was some kind of sibling love awaking in her?
"That's the question, isn't it? You can't know, but maybe I'll convince you if you listen to my plan. All my life I did what my mother wanted. I was raised to bring things to an end, but after my last meeting with my brother, I realized that I was following my mother's plans, even though she was dead. So I made my own plan. I can prove to her that she was wrong in Petey. Unfortunately, I can't let you live. And since I'm not a monster, as you all think, I'll let my brother say goodbye to you. Don't worry, I'll take care of him when you're not here," she told her her entire plan.
Pepper said nothing. Something was wrong with her. Sure, this whole situation wasn't right, but she was beginning to feel that there might be something more behind it. The way she spoke. Pepper has met a few bad guys, and you could say all of them were crazy. But it was just a word that comes to mind when they describe their crazy plans to rule the world. Teresa spoke differently. She felt that the madness went back to medical terminology. Of course, she couldn't know for sure, but she simply had such a hunch. And she was usually right about people.
She thought about what she could, or rather should tell her, but nothing occurred to her. She didn't like that she had the situation in her hands. This was not a board meeting. This was not her territory. It was Tony's. She didn't like to admit it, but she needed him to wake up. She could never have done it without him. In the end, Teresa wasn't wrong when she decided not to handcuff her.
"Finally," the brown woman snorted suddenly.
Pepper looked at her to see what she was talking about, but Teresa didn't look at her. Her gaze was on Tony, and so she turned to her husband. And she took a deep breath when she saw him trying to keep his eyes open, but the bright light kept him from doing so.
Nothing has been won yet, but she was not alone. She had Tony by her side, and that was enough to make her believe they would get out of it. As always.
•••
Tony didn't remember being tired. He didn't even remember falling asleep. How could he? After all, he was on his way to a honeymoon with Pepper. With his wife Pepper. They toast to enjoy the holiday at least a little and to keep Peter safe, but Tony didn't know what happened next. He didn't remember anything more. All he knew was that he had begun to wake up from some deep sleep and to be honest, he was still sleepy. But there was an uneasy feeling that something was wrong and that he should wake up. Which was not an easy task for him at all. Plus, his whole body ached.
How do I know you're not lying?
Pepper! But who did she talk to? The other person, also a woman, answered her question, but Tony did not know by a voice who it was. According to the words, he did know. Teresa. The good news for him was that Peter was safe when she was with them. The bad news was that his beloved Pepper was not safe. He had to wake up, preferably immediately.
Tony stopped thinking about how tired he was, and instead focused only on opening his eyes. He felt that his eyelids suddenly weighed several hundred tons. He hoped he'd only tried to open his eyes for a few seconds, not the hours.
"Finally," Teresa said when he finally managed to open his eyes for about a second. But after spending so long in the dark, the ambient light was too bright for him, so he had to close his eyes again. He needed a few more seconds to get used to the light and keep his eyes open.
When the light no longer bothered him, he immediately looked at Pepper, where he found no signs of injury, which immediately brought him some reassurance, and he was able to fully concentrate on the enemy. "So Elizabeth probably won't be your name," he said a drop venomously, staring at the brown-haired girl. Peter was right, she looked just like Mary. But he couldn't concentrate on that now.
He managed to evaluate the situation relatively quickly, given that he was still a little affected by the drug she had given them. Fortunately, the situation was not complicated at all. He'll get out of handcuffs if Pepper somehow manages to keep Teresa from getting to his Iron Man suit. He didn't know why his wife wasn't tied up, but at the moment it was a great advantage. Maybe, in the end, Teresa wasn't as smart as she was called.
"It is my name. Peter also has another name, if I'm not mistaken. Teresa Elizabeth Fitzpatrick and Peter Benjamin Stark. Doesn't that sound beautiful?” She asked a rhetorical question, but she didn't give them room to answer. "The various surnames spoils it. We will have to solve that in the future."
Tony looked at Pepper again and tried to explain to her at a glance what he was up to. He regretted a little that Nat wasn't here with him, he could communicate perfectly with her without words. With Pepper, he had no choice but to hope she would understand. He looked at his wrist, where was the bracelet he had made before the Sokovia Accords fiasco. It's not the whole suit, but it's enough. He will get out of handcuffs thanks to that. He looked back at Pepper, who nodded slightly.
Pepper wasn't stupid. She may not have been a superhero, like other members of her family, but she knew what she had to do. And she was pretty nervous about it because she couldn't ruin it. Their lives were at stake. She tried to concentrate and remember all the training Nat had secretly given her. She was trained from the best. She should be able to do this with her eyes closed. The problem was that this would be the first time she had fought someone other than Natasha.
"Why don't you say anything? I want to meet you a little more personally. Well, I already know everything about you, but I will do that I forgot so that you could tell me about it yourself. After all, you are the parents of my little brother," she urged them, and Pepper's stomach tightened uncomfortably. She had such a hunch that she knew what she would have to do. Tony won't be thrilled, but if he tries to kill her, she won't have a choice.
"Now," Tony said, activating the bracelet, which soon became Iron Man's glove, while Pepper headed for Teresa so she wouldn't get into Tony's suit. She grabbed Teresa's right arm and pulled her close before she could recover from what was happening, and leaned back slightly. She stepped forward with her right foot and grabbed Teresa's right forearm with her right hand. Holding her with both hands, she tried to pull her to her neck so she could turn left and pull her to the ground with her. Pepper winced and began to fall forward, pulling Teresa with her. Then she was done, however, she did not relax and continued to push the young woman with her back to the floor.
Natasha was right. It was like a dance.
Tony had already escaped handcuffs and was now standing in front of them, aiming his repulsor at Teresa. First, he had to neutralize his opponent, only then could he admire his wife's sudden martial art.
"Tony, no!" Pepper shouted, releasing her grip a little.
"Don't worry, Pep, I'm in control. I won't hit you," he told her calmly.
"It's not about that! You can't hurt her."
"Honey, now is not the time for your weakness for the bad guys," he muttered, about to charge the repulsor, but Pepper did something that surprised him. She let go of the grip completely and crossed Teresa to stand in front of her, so she now stood between Teresa and Tony.