Chapter 13
It has been several weeks since Tony disappeared. They had almost no news about him. The unease grew, and Peter was more and more afraid day by day. Pepper too, but she still tried to seem calm for the outside world and support the little boy.
Well, Peter wasn't that little anymore. He was eight years old, he was beginning to have his own head, he was incredibly clever and lately very emotional. But she couldn't be surprised to consider what he was going through. He lost his mother. He couldn't lose his father too. Who would have left him then? Maybe she, but she was... who exactly? His father's assistant? Peter's occasional nanny? He will grow up soon, he will be a teenager, and he will no longer need her embrace, presence, or advice. The thought of losing him made her even more anxious. Over the years, he had grown so close to her heart that she suddenly couldn't imagine living without him.
"May I?" his voice suddenly disturbed her thinking. Pepper blinked quickly to scare away tears and put on a kind smile.Peter tried to return it, then shook his head sighing, he sat down beside her on the couch. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he clung to her.
"Should I order a pizza?" she asked into the strangely empty silence, gently ruffling through Peter's brown hair. The helplessness was the worst. Pepper needed to do something needed to control things. And suddenly she couldn't do anything, she had to leave everything to fate, to Tony, and she had to sit on this oversized sofa while her throat was clutching with fear, and the walls suddenly were too close as if they were choking and crushing her.
"I'm not hungry," Peter murmured, shaking a little.
"You have to eat something."
"I'll have something later. Pepper, I'm sorry I was rude to you before," he said suddenly, raising his head to look into her eyes. She smiled at him and kissed his forehead.
"It's okay. I understand. It's too much on you," she whispered understandingly.
"I'm terribly worried about Daddy, Pepper. I don't even want to think... They can't hurt him. He can't be suddenly... gone," his voice failed and he lowered his head so that Pepper couldn't see his eyes filling with tears.
“They're still looking for him, but they're not giving up. Your dad is the smartest and strongest guy I know, Peter. He can do it and get out of it. As always of everything. We just have to trust him," she tried to cheer him up. And she had to hope it all worked out well.
Because otherwise...
•••
Pepper watched breathlessly as Tony with the help of Rhodey was coming out of the plane. Soon he walked toward her with a limp, cautious step, she suppressed tears and couldn't hold back a wide smile.
"Where's Peter?" Was the first thing he asked.
"He was still at school, but I called there, and soon he and Happy will be here," she informed him.
"Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?"
"Tears of joy. I hate job hunting," she teased him and he smiled at her.
“Thank you for watching him. And that you came. I really appreciate it. I was afraid that—" What he was afraid of, Pepper didn't know. Tony fell silent as soon as a black car stopped nearby. His eyes glittered as the door opened and Peter jumped out.
"Daddy!" he shouted enthusiastically, and he seemed to be not far from tears, too. He ran to him and embraced his father joyfully, happy to see him alive again, and more or less healthy.
"Ow - oh, careful, munchkin! Or no, come here!" he laughed and hugged him even harder, ignoring the pain in his left hand. "Good to see you again, Peter. You don't even know how much I missed you. I thought of you every day," he confessed and kissed his hair.
"I was so worried about you, Dad."
"Same here, kid, but then I remembered that Pepper is with you and that nothing can happen to you," he said honestly, staring at the red-haired woman who was holding back the tears of the emotion. Peter glanced between them for a moment.
"Dad, did you miss Pepper?"
“You bet I did. Now let's go, I want to get out of here as soon as possible," he said, and then everyone was sitting in Happy's car. Happy was thrilled that Tony was back, and he told him that he liked seeing him too.
"Where to, sir?" asked Happy, putting on dark sunglasses.
"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy," Pepper replied immediately.
"No."
"No? Tony, you have to."
"Pepper's right, Dad-"
"I don't have to do anything. I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger," Peter started laughing, "and the other..."
"That's enough of that," she cut him off quickly and glared at Peter, who raised an eyebrow.
"Is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now. And I want to spend some time with my son again, so," he smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder, "we're going to cheeseburgers."