Goodbyes and Hellos
“A press conference? Really?” Pepper asked, folding her arms.
“It’s our only option,” Rhodey explained. “We haven’t gotten any demands from Loki, and we need the people to back us up.”
“The last thing I want is for the entire world to know about Peter and how he’s connected to all of this,” Pepper argued. Her worst fear was the entire world associating her son to the mob. Getting the ‘people’ to sympathize with her as a distraught mother wasn’t necessarily a priority for her.
“I agree with Pepper,” May added, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to reveal Peter’s identity to the world.”
“We would rather not have to, but how else will we force Loki to act?” Nat asked.
“Show up in Loki’s territory and demand my son back.” Pepper stated as if it was completely logical.
“Loki is a trickster and now that he’s leading the Chitauri we know he had to be ruthless to get there. He doesn’t follow the old rules. He’ll kill you and won’t hesitate to kill Peter.” Rhodey explained.
The old rules. Pepper rolled her eyes. Pepper had learned a lot in the past month about how the mob operated. How wives and children should be left out of business. The fact that mobs swore to never entangle their woman and children should be reassuring. But Pepper rationalized if that was the case, she wouldn’t have been forced back into this world, and Peter would never have been taken in the first place. So much for following the old rules.
“I’m not a mobster! Loki has no reason to target me, I’m just looking for my son!” Pepper exclaimed.
“If you show desperation, he will take advantage of that.” Rhodey justified.
“I’m not desperate, I’m just ready to cut Loki’s head off for involving my son.”
“Like that will help find Tony and Peter. Let’s just have a press conference, gain sympathy from civilians and other mobs who follow the old rules, and Loki will be pressured to return your son.” Rhodey explained.
“No.”
“Pepper,” Nat warned, “it’s our best chance.”
Pepper grumbled. She didn’t like this at all.
“Fine. But I want to do the talking.”
“I’ll write the script and we can hold a press conference in a week.” Rhodey sighed a breath of relief. Hopefully, this would end soon.
As Rhodey and Nat walked away, May turned to Pepper.
“Don’t tell me you’ll be their obedient puppet right?” May begged quietly, thinking Rhodey and Nat wouldn’t hear.
But Rhodey heard. And it made his blood boil.
--
Tony woke up to the sound of sniffling. It was light. Quiet. As if this person didn’t want anyone to know their misery. And for a second, he didn’t know if it was Ho or Peter. But when he rolled over to look at his son tucked in next to him, he could see the stream of tears down his son’s face. Peter’s eyes were closed, and it looked like he was squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as possible as if he was trying to stop any more tears from falling.
Tony reached out and brushed his face gently. At the touch of the callused fingers, Peter opened his eyes. Just looking into Peter’s eyes, Tony could see the pain and sadness swirled in his teary eyes.
“Mommy,” Peter choked out, his voice shaky.
“I know I miss her too,” Tony agreed, stroking away the tear falling down Peter’s face.
“I wan’ mommy,” Peter cried a little louder this time.
“Shh, shhh, shhh,” Tony soothed, gently brushing Peter’s soft curls and pulled him in closer. “We both do. But for now, go to sleep and you’ll earn 10 points. We are one day closer to seeing mommy.”
“Wen?” Peter asked, leaning into the touch and curling into his father’s arms.
“Soon,” Tony said.
Tony could only hope.
And as he watched Peter fall back asleep, Tony began thinking. What if they never made it out of here? What if their plan didn’t work? Or what if, Tony managed to save Peter but sacrifices himself in the process?
These thoughts swirled in his head as he watched his son’s small chest rise and fall with each breath. He thought and thought and thought, but the more he thought, the more he realized he wished he could apologize to Pepper. He wished he could tell her how sorry he was, and how much he loved her. But he couldn’t.
Or could he?
--
“Just stick to the script, and we will have Peter home in no time,” Rhodey comforted Pepper outside the press room at Stark Tower, where hundreds of reporters were waiting.
Nat glared at Rhodey, her eyes warning him to not make promises he couldn’t keep.
“The script isn’t going to get Peter home, we need to say more,” May pointed out, much to Rhodey’s annoyance. But Nat ignored it.
“You can do this,” Nat called out to Pepper as she walked in the doors. “Rhodey will introduce you and we will be beside you the whole time.”
Pepper took a deep breath and opened the door confidently. She was greeted by the white light of cameras flashing and the reporters yelling. She almost froze. Almost. The only thing that kept her going was Peter. The hope that this press conference was all that kept her going forward.
The sound of her name being called over and over again became white noise as she walked towards the podium. She glanced out to the crowd; her eyes glazed over the frenzy. She barely registered that Rhodey introduced her, and suddenly she was ushered to the podium to begin speaking.
Nat nudged Pepper, breaking Pepper from her trance. Pepper glanced down at her cards and began speaking
“Thank you Rhodey and good afternoon, thank you for being here.” She said shakily but was immediately interrupted.
“Mrs. Stark, is it true Tony Stark was kidnapped by Loki and the Chitarui?” A reporter screamed.
“Hold your questions until the end!” Rhodey scolded firmly.
“By now many of you have heard the rumors that Tony is missing,” Pepper continued. “It is true… Tony was kidnapped by Loki 2 months ago.”
The reporters began murmuring, the wave of sound gently washing over the room.
Pepper kept going
“Loki kidnapped Tony. But Loki also kidnapped…” Pepper took a deep breath. “Our son. Peter.”
The reporters and the cameras erupted. The tsunami of noise and light drowning out the room.
“You have a son?!?!”
“How old is Peter?”
“Why did you both hide the pregnancy and the birth of your child?”
“Is Peter inheriting the Stark empire?”
The questions kept coming and coming, preventing Pepper from continuing. Rhodey tried to control the reporters and get them to settle down, but the longer it went on, the more outrageous the questions got.
“Is Peter a secret love child with one of Tony’s former flings?”
“Is the reason you kept your son a secret because something is wrong with him?”
“What is wrong with you? Why would you bring a child into the mob? That’s too dangerous.”
“SHUT UP!!” Pepper screeched, and the room fell silent.
“All you care about is your stupid dramatic headline! You reporters are so thickheaded that you’d rather write a story about a secret love child or make up some other bullshit story than tell the truth! What don’t you get about the fact that my child was kidnapped and that all I want is for my son to come home safely?”
Rhodey and Nat spared a glance at one another. Pepper was going off script, and there was no way they would be able to stop her.
Rhodey immediately blamed May’s influence.
“Mrs. Stark, why was your son kept a secret?” A reporter called out.
“Because he deserves to have a normal safe childhood, and Loki and the rest of his family of thugs decided a child’s life isn’t sacred, that they could just pull an innocent kid into this mess.”
“Mrs. Stark, if you could send Loki a message right now, what would you say?” Another reporter asked loudly enough for Pepper to hear over the sea of other questions.
“You’ll never live another day without regretting breaking the old rules. I am coming for you. And when I find my son, you will regret everything you did to me and my family.”
Rhodey rushed forward to take Pepper’s spot at the podium, and Nat grabbed Pepper’s arm and began pulling her towards the exit. Once the two women were outside the conference room, Nat exploded.
“Why didn’t you stick to the script?” Nat asked, clearly frustrated.
“Nat, did you not hear the questions they asked? They were offensive!”
“Do you realize how aggressive you came off?”
“I don’t care! I meant what I said.”
“So you plan on going after Loki? That is a horrible idea.” Nat shook her head in anger.
“It’s been two months and we’ve got nothing. Nothing!”
The door slammed, and Rhodey stomped forward.
“What the hell was that? Do you know how bad that makes us look?” Rhodey demanded.
“They asked me if Peter had issues and if he was a secret love child! They tried to distract from the real story, which is exactly what Loki would want.”
“Well, now you threatened Loki and the Chitarui. You’re going to put us at a war with them.”
“Aren’t we already in a war? In case you forgot, Loki kidnapped Tony and my son!” Pepper argued.
“No blood has been shed. Yet. Your stunt may have started it.” Rhodey warned.
“I am finding my son, and getting Loki to make a move is the only way for us to be able to find my baby.”
“You’re not meeting with Loki,” Rhodey stated.
“Why the hell not?”
“You think Tony would ever want to put you in that kind of danger? Loki is insane, he’s a trickster, and we have no idea what he is planning.”
“Well, I am going to find him. And I will find my son.”
“I can’t do that. I know Tony would want you to be safe above all else.”
“I can’t be safe without Peter.”
“You want to test me?” Rhodey asked, getting angrier and angrier. “Fine.”
“Why are you arguing with me on this? Don’t you want to find Tony too?”
“I do, but I know him. He would rather keep you safe than risk letting you try and save him. And as his number two, he would want me to make sure you were safe. I know what the problem is.”
“What?” Pepper asked, taken aback. She was confused. What was the problem? What was Rhodey talking about?
“Nat?” Rhodey turned his attention away from Pepper.
“Yes?”
“Make arrangements to send May Parker away. She has caused more problems than I anticipated.”
“What no! You can’t do that.” Pepper screamed.
“I’m sorry, but it’s for your own good,” Rhodey explained.
“No! You can’t! How can you say it’s for my own good! She’s the only one who has actually been there for me.” Pepper cried, the fear of losing her friend all over again coursed through her veins.
“She’s encouraged you from the day we brought her to the tower to take these kinds of risks. She enables you and we can’t have that. It is safer for you if we send her away.”
“Fuck you! You have no right to do that!” Pepper screamed, the anger boiling over.
But Rhodey ignored her pleas.
“Arrange it,” He said, storming off.
Pepper turned to Nat, her eyes imploring and begging for help.
“Please don’t do this.”
“With Tony missing right now, he’s the boss. If I don’t follow him, I lose my ranking.”
“Nat please, after everything-“
But Nat cut her off before Pepper had to go any further.
“Listen, I have to arrange it, but I will tell you everything. We can keep it a secret. You’ll always know where she is, and I can give you both a burner phone with each other’s contact in case needed.”
“I just don’t want to lose another person.”
“You won’t. You’ll still have her if you need her. But listen, only contact her for emergencies.”
“Is there any other way?” Pepper begged.
“Unless you want me to be replaced with someone else…” Nat trailed off.
Pepper sighed. She knew what that would mean. She would have someone new to tail her every move. Someone much less understanding than Nat. Someone who would be completely loyal to the Stark family. Someone who would care less about what Pepper wanted as long as they fulfilled every demand of the boss.
“Fine but I want everything. Address. Phone. Email. Pager. Literally everything so I never lose May again.”
“Deal.”
“No one can know,” Pepper added.
“Done.”
--
“Ho?” Tony called out.
It was midday. Or at least he thought it was. Without windows, he couldn’t really tell. But they were all up. Peter was playing with scrap metal while Ho and Tony had been working on the ‘suit,’ but they were really working on the pod to send Peter home. The Ten Rings had checked on them a couple of hours ago, and by Tony’s calculation, it would be another 3 hours before they returned.
“I am listening.”
“Do you have paper and a pen?”
“Hm?” Ho looked up from the pod. “You need paper and pen? That’s not the kind of technology I would picture you using Stark.”
“To store a message in the pod would take extra time. And space. We don’t have that flexibility, which is why I am asking for a pen and paper so I can write something down.”
“We are installing the coordinates into the body of the pod. Surely you aren’t planning on writing that down?” Ho asked.
“No,” Tony sighed.
“Then what? You wish to write a letter?”
“It’s my only option. If I could, I would store a hologram in the pod and project my message, but we don’t have the materials or time to build that. And I don’t picture the terrorists forking over excess materials without questions.”
“They do ask questions.”
“And I’d like to avoid as much waterboarding as possible.”
“Easier said than done with these people.”
“Common don’t you have something? I peg you for a guy that always carries a journal.”
“You’re lucky that I do.”
“So –“ Tony started, but before he could finish, they heard the familiar click of the door opening.
They spared each other a glance, and Ho immediately began hiding the pod in the well-designed compartment in the suit. It blended into the body of the suit, looking as if it was the chest cavity. Tony was quick to usher Peter to hide under the bed. When Tony turned around, the men were glaring at him.
“Update.” The terrorist said.
“We are working as fast as we can,” Ho complained.
“You finish by August 11th,” The terrorist explained.
“You know time is a social construct, especially here. Hasn’t anyone told you how to be a gracious host and be patient with your guests?” Tony sarcastically said.
It earned Tony a smack across the jaw.
“It is July 31st.”
“There’s no way we can finish in less than two weeks!” Ho exclaimed.
It earned Ho a punch in the gut.
“You will,” the terrorist stated. “Or we kill the boy you hide.”
Tony’s eyes widened. There was no way they could finish at the rate they were going. They would have to work constantly to finish, and there was no guarantee that they would. And he couldn’t rush in case they made a mistake. If they did, Peter could die anyways.
Tony was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the terrorists left. He only looked up when he heard Ho call his name for the 3rd time.
“Stark, the clock is ticking.”
Tony nodded.
“So you’ll lend me a pen and paper?”
“Sure Stark, if we can finish it in time, why not.”
--
“May,” Pepper cried, pulling May into a hug for what felt like the millionth time.
They stood in the lobby of the Tower, with Happy and Nat off in the corner watching from a distance. Pepper shooed them away, begging for a minute with her closest and most trusted friend. Rhodey knew better than to show up. Pepper was pissed at him and hadn’t spoken to him since the day he announced May was leaving.
“I’m going to miss you so much too,” May cried into Pepper’s arm.
“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Pepper admitted into May’s soft hair as May rubbed her back.
“I wish that too, but I have to think of the positives,” May argued weakly.
“Like?” Pepper asked skeptically.
“I get away from the hustle and bustle of New York,” May admitted, then dropped her voice. “Chattanooga will be a nice change I think.”
“It’s Tennessee,” Pepper whispered with concern, keeping the conversation as quiet as possible so that no one, not even the AI would pick up on anything they said.
“It won’t be that bad, it’ll be scenic.”
“It still can snow there.”
“I like snow,” May argued.
“it’s no New York.” Pepper reasoned.
“No, but you know where I will be. If you ever need me…”
“I will come find you. I’ll always be able to find you,” Pepper promised and pulled back from the hug as Nat and Happy approached. Already, she felt the warmth of May’s arms around her being replaced by the cold air of the lobby’s strong air conditioning.
“Your bus leaves in 20. I’ll drive you to Port Authority.” Happy offered, and May smiled.
“Thanks, Happy,” May acknowledged, then turned back to her friend. “You’ll find Peter. I know you will.”
Pepper nodded. She had work to do.
--
“I’nman!” Peter cried out. It was bedtime, but I’nman wasn’t coming to snuggle with him.
“Sorry Pete, we have lots of work to do.” Tony said. They were so close. For the past 9 days, they had stayed up and worked as fast as possible. And they were almost done.
“I’nman pwease.”
“Peter, your father and I are very busy,” Ho interjected.
“If you go to sleep now I’ll give you 100 points.”
“Noooooo,” Peter wined. He didn’t want points anymore. He realized the points were getting him nothing. All he wanted was his mommy and I’nman.
“Peter, I wish I could but we can’t stop working.”
“I hwelp,” Peter said, kicking the covers off. That got Tony to move.
Tony rushed over to stop Peter from jumping out of the bed and quickly grabbed his ankles. Peter giggled and tried to kick his feet, but Tony tickled his sides while pulling the covers back over Peter. The tickling only managed to get Peter to burst out laughing uncontrollably and Tony watched fondly. He knelt down next to the bed as his son caught his breath.
“Why you wushing?” Peter asked.
“We only have a few more days here okay? It’s like the sprint to the finish line.”
“Den we see mommy?”
“Yup, you’ll see mommy,” Tony explained, popping the p. He left out the part that Peter would be traveling solo in the pod and that Tony may never get rescued. While he felt bad for hiding that undeniable truth, Tony didn’t want to scare his son.
But Peter was smart.
“Wha’ ‘bout you?” Peter asked.
“What about me?” Tony asked, hoping to divert Peter.
“You come?” Peter asked.
“Pete,” Tony sighed and brushed Peter’s hair off his forehead. “You’re going to go first, but the Avengers will come back for me.”
“Weally?” Peter asked.
“The pod we are building has the GPS coordinates of where we are right now. Once you land back at home, the Avengers will be able to fly out on my Quintjet and save me and Ho… Do you get what I’m saying?”
“Ummm,” Peter thought but didn’t get why I’nman couldn’t come with him. “No.”
Tony sighed. Understandably.
“That’s okay kiddo, just go to sleep,” Tony whispered and leaned over to kiss Peter’s forehead who promptly yawned. “Love you 3000.”
“Lub you thwee-t’ousand,” Peter whispered back his eyes slipping closed.
Tony knelt next to him for a few more minutes, enjoying the serenity in this dark cave.
“Stark, we have work to do,”
“Yea, yea, I know,” Tony said sighing.
“We have just two days until the men said they would come to kill him.” Ho reminded.
“Right,” Tony stood and walked over to the workbench. “Wait so tomorrow is August 10th?”
“Yes, why the sudden interest?” Ho asked.
“August 10th is Peter’s birthday. He’ll be two.”
“And?” Ho asked rhetorically. It wasn’t like they could celebrate with a birthday cake and a party.
“Yea, I guess you are right.”
“Let’s work through the night. We can give him a birthday present in the morning. The pod. And send him home” Ho explained.
“Let’s get to work,” Tony agreed.
And they did.
At one point, Tony looked back at his son fast asleep. He realized by now it had to be past midnight, so his son was two. Two years old. He turned back to his workstation and looked at the blank paper Ho had given him earlier this morning. When he accepted it, he wasn’t sure what to write.
But now, he knew what he wanted to say.
--
Pepper woke up, absolutely miserable.
Today was Peter’s birthday. He was two. He should be here in her arms. She should be able to hug him and kiss him and sing him happy birthday. But she couldn’t. It destroyed her.
Pepper rolled over in bed. She didn’t even have May to talk to without compromising their secret contact information. She looked out the window, off into space, her mind completely blank, when her phone ringed.
Pepper watched the phone buzz. She knew it wouldn’t be May. May wouldn’t risk losing the ability to be able to contact her over a birthday they couldn’t celebrate. No matter how much it crushed the both of them. It had to be someone else.
Pepper picked up the phone and examined the number. An unknown New York number. She was confused but she picked up.
“Hello?” Pepper asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.
“I quite liked the press conference,” An unfamiliar voice answered.
“Who is this?” Pepper demanded, unsure of who she was talking to.
“Hmmm,” the voice dragged out, “I would think you would know who this is. After all, you were the one who wanted to talk.”
“Loki,” Pepper stated.
“Well done dear.”
Pepper growled into the phone.
“Now now, let’s play nice for a bit.”
“You took my son. I have no plans on playing nice.”
“Your son isn’t what I was after.”
“You want power I get it. My child has nothing to do with what you want.”
“Hurts doesn’t it? Being lied to.” Loki asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Peter has everything to do with the power I want. You are delusional to think your boy won’t inherit the Stark empire one day. Whatever Stark told you is a lie.”
“He won’t…”
“Because Stark promised? He promised he wouldn’t bring work home, that Peter would stay out of it?”
Pepper didn’t respond, giving Loki the green light to continue his rant.
“He has every intention of handing his work down to his son. That’s how it has worked and always will work in our world.”
“Peter isn’t a part of your world.”
“Oh, but he is. And so are you. You might think you aren’t, but you are. You might try to run, but you’ll never be able to escape it.”
“Give me my son and you’ll see. We will leave.”
“Ah ah, but then the day Peter grows up and finds he is the rightful heir to the Stark empire, he will come and try to fight me. Honestly, I am doing you a favor.”
“Peter’s not like that.”
“The boy is a product of his father.”
“No, Peter is different. He is better than all of this. If he has a chance to have a normal life, to be a good person, he won’t want anything to do with this mess.”
“I beg to differ. He will grow and the blood in his veins will drive him towards the mob, not away.”
“You’re wrong.”
“You know, I called to thank you for the press conference. I thoroughly enjoyed watching.”
“I’m coming for you. And so are the rest of us. Other mobs are aligning with us, and we are all looking for you.”
“So what you’ll kill me? Evidently, there will be a line.” Loki teased.
“I won’t kill you.”
“Right you’ll have others do that for you. You play the part of an innocent, perfect, and sweet housewife, but really, you’re no better than the rest of the Starks. You have just as many secrets. And you’ve hurt those around you by keeping them. You play dirty, you’re only playing the sympathy card in order to ruin my plans.”
“So it’s working?” Pepper called him out, much to Loki’s annoyance.
“All I know is it is your son’s birthday. I’ll make sure he celebrates his birthday in style.” Loki tormented.
“I swear to god…”
But the line went dead.
--
“Peter,” Tony sang, shaking the boy lightly to wake him up.
“Peter,” Tony repeated.
Peter groaned and rolled over. It was much earlier than he usually woke up.
“Common Peter, wake up, it’s your birthday.” Tony teased, and Peter peaked his eyes open.
“Birfday?” Peter asked.
“Happy birthday Pete,” Tony said softly.
“Weally?”
“Yes, ‘weally’,” Tony said, mimicking Peter’s childish voice.
“Tanks,” Peter acknowledged, getting out of bed.
“Ho and I got you a present,” Tony stated.
“Yes, your father and I have finished building your pod early,” Ho explained. They stayed up all night. And they figured it out. Ahead of schedule.
“O,” Peter said. Peter realized what that meant. That meant he would be separated from his hero. His Ironman. The nervousness in Peter’s chest began bubbling up, and he grabbed Ironman’s hand for support.
“Common over Peter, let’s get ready,” Tony called out, holding out his hand. Peter tentatively took it, scared of what the future held.
Ho and Tony worked quickly to get the pod situated. It would be able to blast through the door once the terrorists left after dropping off their morning meal. After a few minutes, they would send the pod out. And hopefully, that would buy them enough time to wait for the Avengers to come to rescue them.
So they waited. They waited and waited until the door opened and food was dropped on the ground with a clang.
After a minute passed to ensure the terrorists would be far enough away, Ho turned to Tony.
“It is time,” Ho stated.
Tony took a shaky breath and turned to look down at Peter. Peter was already looking up at him. The second they made eye contact, Tony could feel his own eyes beginning to water.
“Wha? Why you cwying? I’nman no cry. I’nman hero, an’ heroes neva cwy cause dey stwong” Peter asked confused.
“Heroes do cry, Pete. Heroes cry because they are strong. And guess what?” Tony said, holding back the tears.
“Wha?”
“You’re a superhero because you’re going to save us.”
“Weally?” Peter asked, his eyes lighting up.
“Absolutely. When you get home you tell the Avengers to open this,” Tony gestured to the panel inside the pod that showed their precise location on a map. “And when you see mommy, you give her this note for me, got it?”
Tony handed the letter to Peter. He picked up his son, and put him in the seat of the pod, and buckled a crying Peter in.
“I love you 3000,” Tony said.
“I lub you 3000 daddy,” Peter cried out, reaching his arms out to his father.
Tony’s eyes widened at being called daddy. All this time he hadn’t heard that precious name. In all honesty, Tony didn’t think he ever would hear it. It was the greatest gift, and all he could do was let the tears quietly stream down his face.
Tony gave his baby one last kiss on the forehead. He tried not to waste any time, but it was hard not to when Tony knew this could very well be the last time they ever saw each other.
Tony closed the door to the pod. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Ready?” Ho asked.
Tony could only nod.
Tony hoped that Peter wasn’t scared. Tony hoped Peter would be brave and make it back safely into Pepper’s arms. Tony hoped that this wasn’t goodbye, but he realized he could accept death as long as Peter made it home.
As long as Peter was safe.