Chapter 50
"So let's get this straight, shall we? I'm going to a meeting with Mary, if Dad asks, tell him I went out with Ned," Peter said, then paused immediately. Why the hell he was telling the truth to Friday and not telling her straight away that he was going to Ned? It'll probably be the nerves he had from the meeting with Mary. In the end, he agreed to give her a chance, even though he didn't really know why. But she saved Aunt Nat, so one meeting won't kill him, right? At least, he hoped Mary wasn't a killer. Also, he had the opportunity to talk to her properly. He deserves to know the truth.
"As you wish, Peter," Friday said in a robotic voice, but Peter felt that he still heard condemnation in her tone. His father was down in the workshop, so he could tell him himself, but he was really nervous and afraid that his lie would be revealed. And he really didn't want to come out with the truth. And if Aunt Nat were there, he could dig his own grave, because she had seen through his lies always and everywhere.
"Thanks," he muttered, quickly putting on his shoes. He settled his thoughts for the last time, and when he was determined, he came out the door.
Tony was working on Peter's nanotechnology suit in his workshop, and he was really excited about it. He was almost done with his work and couldn't wait to show Peter.
"Sir, I would like to remind you that there are only three days left when Miss Potts can return as the CEO of Stark Industries," Friday interrupted him, and Tony was taken aback by her statement. With Natasha's return, his days were running a little faster again. He was shocked to realize that Pepper had been gone for three weeks. That was crazy.
"Connect me with Pep, be that kind. And tell her it's about the company," he said, throwing away the holograms with designs. He would just be unnecessarily distracted by them.
"Tony?" Her voice echoed through the workshop, and Tony's heart began to beat faster. As if he were coming to life again.
"Hi, Pep," he greeted her and cleared his throat a little. He acted like a teenager in love! But he just couldn't help himself when it came to her.
"Friday said it was about the company. Is something wrong?” she went straight to the point, but even that put a smile on Tony's face. She was still his Pepper. The one that never walks around a hot mess.
"Actually, yes, I forgot to mention it to you, but when you left the leadership to the board, we had to agree on the next step, and in the end, I got you fourteen days to return to your post. This deadline is rapidly coming to an end. You have three days to make a decision, Pepper. Please, honey, come back. If not for us, then for the company," he told her of the facts. He didn't want to push her, but she just had to come back. What kept her in Malibu?
"You surprised me a little. I'll have to let it go through my head. I don't know if it would be appropriate for me to be the CEO of your company, now that we are in a situation like this."
"What situation, dear? I love you, and that will never change. I wish you could see it. Friday said you have a job in Malibu. What are you doing there?” he asked curiously. Although he doubted that anyone had offered her a better position than she had worked on for the past seven years.
"I have returned to assistance. It's... less stressful," she replied, and Tony couldn't believe his ears.
"That's ridiculous, Pep! You're not an assistant, you're the CEO. Honey, you belong with us and you belong in your CEO's chair."
"I'll think about it, Tony. I have to go."
"Wait, I love you!" he blurted out just before the connection broke.
"She's coming back," another voice said in the room, and Tony jumped slightly in his chair.
"Natasha!" he shouted at her, and she laughed at that.
"You know, while you're at rebuilding your relationship, maybe you could try it with Steve too," she said just like that.
"Nat, I'm really not in the mood for that right now. Maybe I'll deal with it when everything returns to normal in our family. But don't rely too much on it, he made his decision and I'm not sure if I want him around."
"But you miss him and don't deny it! He is your family too."
"I may miss him, but that doesn't mean I want him here. I always thought he had no dark side, but in Siberia, he revealed it to me in all its beauty. If he wants to come back, he will have to make something for it," he explained, reopening the hologram with Iron Spider's design.
•••
Pepper thought about it really hard. Maybe even harder than she thought about returning to her boys. She knew Tony was right. She belonged there. The place was hers, and she had accomplished so much there over the years. It was her second child. And if she had to give up on Peter for Marry, she could at least kept the company. She could dive into work and displace a place that belonged to sadness. But... she was overtaking it. So far, Mary doesn't seem to be returning to Tony and Peter, so nothing has been lost yet.
Even so, she didn't want to return home so suddenly and she sold her apartment. The bottom line, if she decides to return to SI, she will have nowhere to live. And she strongly doubted she could get a decent apartment in three days. Why did it still have to be so complicated?
"Friday? What's going on in New York right now?” she asked as she closed the book, as it was clear to her that she wouldn't read anything today. She hated it when her thoughts were too loud.
"I don't understand the question, miss."
"I mean what Tony and Peter are doing. And do you know anything about Natasha?”
"Mr. Stark is in the workshop working on something while Miss Romanov keeps him company. Peter is out," Friday replied, and Pepper breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad Nat stayed with them when she couldn't be there.
"Outside - do you mean like Spider-Man?" she asked, feeling heavy on her chest. She still hated it so much.
But she hated the answer she got even more.
"No, miss, he went to meet Mary."
It was one of the few times Pepper wished she wasn't right. The world around her stopped, and she felt as if part of her heart had stopped beating for good. In the end, what she was running from happened. She lost a family that never was hers in the first place.