Ironman 2
"You do it." He retorts, after landing back on his feet. Pepper gives him an incredulous look.
"I do what?" she snaps back.
"Excellent idea. I just figured this out. You run the company." He said, the decision finalizing in his mind. It made sense, he needed a successor, who better than Pepper?
"Yeah, I’m trying to run the company." Pepper says with an eye roll. He felt frustration bubble up inside at her oblivious response, signalling the upcoming argument. They started speaking over each other.
"Pepper, I need you to run the company-"
"-You will not give me the information…"
"I’m not asking you to try-"
"-in order to-"
"I’m asking you to physically do it. I need you to do it."
"I am trying to do it."
"Pepper, you’re not listening to me!" he shouted, regretting it instantly at the look on her face.
"No, you are not listening to me." her voice reaching a high volume in her annoyance.
"I’m trying to make you CEO. Why won’t you let me?" he says simply, sounding a bit like a petulant child.
"Have you been drinking?" she asked, narrowing her eyes to study him.
"Chlorophyll," he deflected quickly before continuing.
"I hereby irrevocably appoint you chairman and CEO of Stark Industries effective immediately. Yeah, done deal. Okay? I’ve actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or not." He said, as DUM-E brought over some champagne.
"Doing a bit of headhunting, so to speak, trying to figure out who a worthy successor would be. And then I realized it’s you. It’s always been you. I thought there’d be a legal issue, but actually I’m capable of appointing my successor. My successor being you. Congratulations? Take it, just take it." He said, handing her a glass. She looked speechlessly at him for a few moments.
"I don’t know what to think." she said, voice quiet.
"Don’t think, drink. There you go." he said, with a press smile on his face, as they clinked glasses.
He knew this was the right thing to do, but he felt guilty not telling anyone the true reason why he was doing this.
---
"You want to explain to me what's going on with your husband?" Nick asked, as she walked into his office. She narrowed her eyes a bit, but other than that she didn't let on that she didn't know what he was talking about.
"Is this about him rejecting the Avengers?" she asked coolly, taking a seat in front of his desk.
"No. This is about him giving his company away." Nick replied coolly, his eyebrows raised, showing her he knew something she didn't.
"What? To who?" She asked, dropping her act for legitimate concern.
"His assistant apparently. I don't know why he would do such a thing, but I figured I'd send in an agent to be a shadow. Follow him around and see what we can find out." Nick said. Natasha chose to ignore the fact that Tony was giving his company to Pepper, if he was going to give it to anyone it would make sense it would be her.
"What are you thinking you are going to find out?" She asked defensively. She knew if he sent in a shadow, then SHIELD would find out about both her and Peter, and she wasn't okay with that.
"Who knows. But ever since his little announcement 6 months ago, he's become my problem. If anything is going on, I need to know about it." Nick stated then, crossing his arms. Natasha stared him down silently, before coming to her decision. If anyone could find out what was going on without putting her family in danger, it was her.
"Okay. Send me." she stated. Nick nodded once, like he had expected that very thing to come out of her mouth.
---
"The notary’s here! Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" Pepper called, breaking his concentration as he was boxing Happy.
"I’m on Happy's time." In his distraction he accidentally hit his friend in the nose. "Sorry."
"What the hell was that?" Happy asked incredulously. Tony rolled his eyes at his dramatics.
"It’s called mixed martial arts. It’s been around for three weeks." He joked, watching Happy roll his eyes in return at his humor.
"It’s called dirty boxing, there’s nothing new about it." Happy stated with annoyance.
"All right, put them up. Come on." Tony said, before the sound of heels made both of their heads turn. He had to quickly school his surprised expression at seeing his wife walk in, with no disguise. He met her eyes briefly, but found nothing but professionalism in them, so he figured he needed to keep his act up, as if she was a stranger.
"I promise this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company." Pepper said, with a bit of smugness. After her initial shock, she had told Tony how grateful and excited she was for this opportunity. And how she was going to make the company better, but that was neither her nor there.
"I need you to initial each box." He heard Natasha say quietly to Pepper, before Pepper obliged. His attention was called away when Happy tapped him lightly on the back on his head with his glove.
"Lesson one. Never take your eye off…" He didn't let Happy finish, as he sent a kick to his padding, sending him to the corner. He could hear Happy grumble in annoyance, but he needed his full attention on figuring out why his wife was here, without giving away her cover. Which was apparently a Stark Industries employee.
"That’s it. I’m done. What’s your name lady?" he decided then, to just play on the traditional playboy Tony Stark act. He hoped that would be enough to fool Pepper and Happy, while he could also try and get some kind of explanation.
"Rushman. Natalie Rushman." his wife responded, and he hadn't heard this cover before, so she was here for something new.
"Front and center. Come into the church." He said, deciding to have a bit of fun with her, when he knew she couldn't fight back. He held up the ropes of the ring for her while Pepper let out a sigh.
"No. You’re seriously not gonna ask…" she said, sounding mortified with Tony's behavior. Which was good, it meant that she was buying it.
"If it pleases the court, which it does." Tony insisted, keeping his aloof attitude. He heard Happy snort behind him.
"It’s no problem." she assured Pepper, sounding unbothered. But Tony knew he was getting on her nerves.
"I’m sorry. He’s very eccentric." Pepper said, sounding apologetic. It was working.
He grabbed his water bottle, and took a giant swig as he blatantly stared at his wife as she entered the ring. He looked her up and down for a minute, knowing it would annoy her, but it would keep up with his playboy image.
"Can you give her a lesson?" Tony asked, turning to Happy. This was going to be fun.
"No problem." Happy said.
"Pepper." He called, stepping out of the ring.
"What?" Pepper said, not looking up from her phone as he sat down next to her.
"Who is she?" he asked simply. He heard her let out an annoyed huff.
"She is from legal. And she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that." Pepper reprimanded him. He would normally feel bad, but seeing as it was his wife, he figured it was fine. Plus it protected her cover and his, if Pepper just thought he was going back to his playboy ways.
"I need a new assistant, boss." he said, a new idea springing up in the back of his mind.
"Yes, and I’ve got three excellent potential candidates. They’re lined up and ready to meet you." Pepper said, he could tell she disapproved of where his mind was going.
"I don’t have time to meet. I need someone now. I feel like it’s her." he said.
"No it’s not." She answered, Tony brought up a holographic display on the table next to him, while tuning into what was going on in the ring.
"You ever boxed before?" Happy was asking Natasha.
"I have, yes." was her reply. And Tony had to force himself not to laugh. She had definitely done more than boxing before.
"What, like, the Tae Bo? Booty Boot Camp? Crunch? Something like that?" Happy replied, and Tony internally cringed, already knowing the look that was probably gracing his wife's face. He decided to intervene.
"How do I spell your name, Natalie?" He called. He saw her face turn slightly to him, admiring how well she was acting. He almost believed she had no idea who he was personally.
"R-U-S-H-M-A-N." she spelled and he nodded, typing the name into his database. He wanted to know more about the cover she had come up with.
"What, are you gonna google her now?" Pepper asked impatiently.
"I thought I was ogling her." he retorted. "Wow. Very, very impressive individual." he said interestingly, as he scrolled through her information.
"You’re so predictable, you know that?" That's exactly what he wanted her to think.
"She’s fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?" he said instead, ignoring her comment. He already knew all of this information, but Pepper didn't know this.
"No one speaks Latin." Pepper informed him.
"No one speaks Latin?" he repeated, acting ignorant.
"It’s a dead language. You can read Latin or you can write Latin, but you can’t speak Latin." She informed. But he was quickly distracted by the model pictures that came up next. He struggled to breathe at some of the photos of his wife.
"Did you model in Tokyo? ‘Cause she modeled in Tokyo." He said, when he finally managed to get some breath.
"Well…" she responded, sounding slightly bitter. He could sense his wife's eyes on him as he scrolled through her pictures.
"I need her. She’s got everything that I need." his words more truthful than Pepper needed to know.
"Rule number one, never take your eyes off your opponent." he faintly heard Happy say to his wife, he barely looked over when he saw his wife perform her signature move, taking Happy to the ground. He couldn't hide his snort in amusement and subsequent hum of amazement.
"Oh, my God! Happy." Pepper squealed, jumping up.
"That’s what I’m talking about." a little pride filling his voice, not enough for his friends to pick up on, but enough that his wife would.
"I just slipped." Happy claimed then.
"You did?" Tony laughed, watching as Natasha started to make her way out of the ring, composed as ever.
"Yeah." Happy said weakly.
"Looks like a TKO to me." Tony joked, ringing the bell on the corner of the ring.
"Just… I need your impression." Natasha asked him, coming up to him, a little too close. She made her voice sound a little hesitant, impressing Tony with her act.
"You have a quiet reserve. I don’t know, you have an old soul." Tony joked, staring deeply into his wife's eyes, searching for answers.
"I meant your fingerprint." She replies smoothly, completely disregarding his questioning stare. He nodded, shaking off his hurt quickly.
"Right." he said professionally, pressing his thumb into the ink pad.
"So, how are we doing?" Pepper asked, walking over.
"Great. Just wrapping up here. Hey. You’re the boss." Tony said, focusing his attention on Pepper, rather than his wife. He really wasn't liking having her in the room, pretending they don't know each other.
"Will that be all, Mr Stark?" his wife addressed him, with a professional tone.
"No." Tony said, not wanting her to leave. But Pepper had other ideas.
"Yes, that will be all, Ms. Rushman. Thank you very much." He watched as his wife nodded, before she walked out. He watched as she went before turning to Pepper, determined to keep his act up.
"I want one." he knew if she heard this, it would be the final touch he needed for her to believe his act.
"No." She responded with an eye roll. Mission accomplished.
---
"Do you really have to go Daddy?" Peter asked, sitting on top of Tony's suitcase. Tony poked him in the side a couple times to make him giggle before zipping up his suitcase.
"Yes, Auntie Pepper said we have to go." he answered his son, checking his watch. He was only waiting on one thing.
"We? Does that mean Mommy is going to?" Peter asked, playing with Tony's fingers. Tony let out a sigh.
"Yeah if I can convince her to. You are going to go stay with Uncle Eye-patch." Tony said. It had taken him a lot of convincing for Fury to take Peter for a couple days. He would normally just leave him with Mary's brother and sister in law, but he needed Peter to be safe. And being with the biggest spy in the world, surrounded by his minions, was the safest he could get.
"Oooooh Uncle Eye-patch is cool. He's cranky sometimes but he gives me candy, and lets me pet his cat." Peter said, getting distracted by the toys sitting in front of him. Tony did a double take at his sons words, raising his eyebrows in amusement, before the door opened behind him.
"Why is Fury watching our kid for a few days?" his wife asked him, he kept his back to her so he wouldn't lose his nerve.
"I don't know, why is my wife pretending to work at my company?" he retorted, letting all of his hurt from earlier leak into his voice. He heard her sigh behind him.
"Hey, Peter baby, why don't you go make sure all your stuff is packed in your room okay?" Natasha said quietly, pressing a kiss to Peter's forehead. Tony stayed facing the bed, shoulders tight.
"Okay, Mommy." Peter chirped hopping off the bed and racing off.
"Keep an eye on him, J." Tony choked out, voice hard.
"Always, sir." JARVIS replied, before silence fell upon the room.
"Why don't we start with you signing your company to Pepper?" Natasha said quietly, sitting down on the bed next to where he was standing. She patted the spot next to her gently. But Tony kept his eyes staring resolutely ahead, refusing to succumb to her peace offering.
"Now that I'm Ironman, I needed to make sure the company is taken care of in case anything happens to me. I have been thinking about it since Afghanistan, so it just seemed like a good idea." He argued, telling the partial truth. He had thought that he should have someone as backup in case another thing like Afghanistan happened, but he didn't tell her the biggest reason of all. That he was dying. He couldn't, it would just hurt her more to know. It was better this way.
"Okay. Fair." She relented, and Tony let out a scoff.
"Not everything I do is reckless you know?" He spat bitterly, and he heard her snap her jaw shut.
"I never said that." she argued, voice quiet, trying to console him.
"Oh? Then why is my own wife spying on me?" He said, finally rounding on her, anger in his eyes. She leaned back a little, his anger taking her by surprise.
"Fury wanted to send in one of his SHIELD agents to shadow you. To keep an eye on you. I convinced him to send me, so we didn't have to worry about our cover being blown." She replied simply, with a nonchalant shrug. Tony took a step back, and tapped his fingers on his arc reactor. It was a nervous habit he picked up on.
"You know how I'm okay with you being a spy, but we agreed you would keep them away from us, from me and Peter." Tony said, taking a few more steps back, the rhythm he was tapping picking up speed.
Natasha sighed, but stayed where she was, sitting on the edge of the bed leaning towards him.
"I know, that's why I had him send me. I'm just a floater. That's all." Natasha said, holding her hands up. This didn't make him feel any better, he didn't want her to figure out what was going on. And if he didn't know where she was at all times...
"Be my assistant, then." Tony blurted, idea forming in his head. If she pretended to be his assistant, then he could control where she was and when, he could keep her from finding out. He watched as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why?" she asked, suspiciously.
"Because...if I have to be spied on, I'd like to have some control over it." Tony defended, she stared at him for a few moments, before nodding.
"Okay, I guess that means I need to pack for Monaco?" she asked standing up. He gave her a curt nod, and she looked like she wanted to say more before she just nodded, and left the room.
"Okay! I'm ready to go with Uncle Eye-patch!" Peter squealed, breaking Tony out of his thoughts. He turned to see Peter struggling to roll his suitcase and carry his small backpack at the same time. Tony let out a small laugh, before going to help out.
"Yeah? Well Uncle Eye-patch should be here any minute." Tony replied, taking the two bags and ruffling his son's hair.
"Sir, Director Fury has just arrived." JARVIS spoke up, and he watched as Peter cheered.
"J, let Nat know, so she can come say goodbye to Pete." Tony said, grabbing Peter's hand and leading him down the hallway.
"Certainly, sir."
Once they reached the living room, Peter dropped his hand and ran to the tall man standing by the couch.
"Uncle Eye-patch!" Peter squealed, launching himself into his arms. Fury caught him quickly and gave Peter a rare smile.
"Hey, kid." he said, before looking up to Tony.
"I hope you didn't give my agent a hard time, Stark." Fury said, and before Tony could answer a voice spoke up from behind him.
"No more than usual, sir." Natasha said coming to stand beside him, he tried to contain his flinch, still hurt from her breaking his trust. She seemed to notice, though, moving away from him quickly to take Peter from Fury's arms.
"Okay Peanut, you be good for your uncle okay?" She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Yes, Mama." Peter said dutifully, before hopping down and running over to Tony. Tony knelt down to meet him at eye level.
"Be good for Mama, Daddy." Peter said, earning a laugh from everyone in the room.
"Yes, sir." Tony said, tickling Peter in the side, smiling at the sound of his son's happiness.
"Be good, bug." Tony said, kissing his head. Tony stood up straighter and offered Fury his hand. Fury took it and gave it a shake.
"Thanks for taking him." Tony said. Fury gave him a nod, before leading Peter out of the house.
"Our flight leaves in an hour. Pepper is already on her way." Natasha said, before disappearing again. Tony let out a deep sigh.
---
"What is that?" Natasha asked as he placed the plate down on the tray between them. They were on their way back from Monaco, Pepper had taken a separate plane, still pissed at Tony for the racetrack...and hiring Natasha, leaving the married couple alone.
"This is your in-flight meal." Tony said, taking the lid off and revealing a half-burnt omelet. Natasha gave him a weird look.
"Did you just make that?" she asked, confused. Tony nodded.
"Yeah. Where do you think I’ve been for three hours?" he asked, and she shook her head. It got quiet for a moment, before she spoke again.
"Tony, what are you not telling me?" she asked softly. Tony let out a sigh.
"I don’t want to go home. At all. Let’s cancel my birthday party and...We’re in Europe. Let’s go to Venice, Cipriani. Remember?" Tony said, rambling to keep from having to tell her the actual truth.
"Oh, yes." She said with a snort.
"It’s a great place to be...healthy." Tony offered. Natasha stared at him with a calculating look in her eyes.
"I don’t think this is the right time. We’re in kind of a mess." she replied, referring the inevitable backlash from what happened on the race track.
"Yeah, but maybe that’s why it’s the best time. ‘Cause then we can..." Tony trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
"We need to get back. You need to take care of Peter, and I'm sure I will have plenty fires to put out as your assistant." Natasha said, still giving him a calculating gaze.
"We can take a family vacation." Tony replied desperately.
"A vacation? Tony..." Natasha said, confused.
"Just a ride. Well, I’m just saying, to recharge our batteries and figure it all out." He said, desperately wanting her to agree. He just wanted to run away, to not have to think about the fact that soon he will never see his wife and son again.
"Not everybody runs on batteries Tony." she says gently, and Tony gives up. He just nods, and turns his attention to the window, ignoring her questioning looks.
---
He had just finished researching the identity of his newest villain, when he got sidetracked by some old drawings of Peter's he had found. He sat there staring at the drawings, thinking about how Peter was going to take his death, when he heard someone enter the lab behind him.
"Tony, you gotta get upstairs and get on top of this situation right now. Listen. I’ve been on the phone with the National Guard all day, trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up the PCH, knocking down your front door and taking these. They’re gonna take your suits, Tony, okay? They’re sick of the games. You said nobody else would possess this technology for 20 years. Well, guess what? Somebody else had it yesterday. It’s not theoretical anymore. Are you listening to me? Are you okay?" He was jarred from his spiraling thoughts by a firm grip on his shoulder. He was aware of the tears in his eyes as he turned to his friend. He nodded his head, and started to get out of the car.
"Let’s go." He said, before stumbling as he shut the door, feeling lightheaded. He heard Rhodey's hurried footsteps as he rushed over to Tony.
"Hey, man. Hey, hey! You all right?" Rhodey asked, but Tony waved him off.
"Yeah, I should get to my desk." Tony said, as Rhodey took on half of his weight. "See that cigar box?" he asked, landing hard in his chair.
"Yeah." Rhodey said, opening it, revealing the palladium.
"It’s palladium." Tony said, after getting a questioning look from his friend. He turned away slightly to remove his arc reactor, the familiar pressure in his chest making itself known.
"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Rhodey asked then, as Tony passed him the arc reactor.
"If you must know, it’s neutron damage. It’s from the reactor wall." Tony choked out, wishing Rhodey would stop asking questions so he could get it back in his chest, the pressure becoming more and more uncomfortable.
"You had this in your body? And how about the high-tech crossword puzzle on your neck?" Rhodey asked, handing him back his arc reactor. Tony let out a sigh of relief as he replaced it.
"Road rash. Thank you." he said, taking a drink of the stuff keeping him alive. "What are you looking at?" Tony asked, feeling his friend's gaze burning his back.
"I’m looking at you. You wanna do this whole lone gunslinger act and it’s unnecessary. You don’t have to do this alone." Rhodey replied.
"You know, I wish I could believe that. I really do. But you’ve gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I’m doing." Tony responded, hearing Rhodey give a small snort.
"Well you could at least spend time with your kid, while you do whatever it is you do. He keeps telling me how you never come out of the lab. And Nat, she seems tired, is everything okay with you two?" Tony stiffened at the mention of his wife and son.
"Yeah, um we had an argument a couple of days ago. It will be okay. And I'll go spend time with Peter in a bit, I got some work to do first." Tony said, and Rhodey sent him a thoughtful look, before leaving.
Tony let out a shaky sigh, trying to remind himself of why he was doing this. Why he was pushing everyone away. If they hated him, it would hurt less when he died. He just didn't want them to hurt.
---
"I'm cancelling the party. I don't...I don't want to have to live up to the playboy act...not tonight." Tony said as soon as he heard her walk in. He heard her steps falter a bit before she came and perched on the arm of the chair he was occupying.
"That's probably for the best." She said, sounding surprised. Tony gave a curt nod. "So how are we going to celebrate your birthday then?" she asked then. Tony looked up and met her eyes.
"Just you, and Pete. Just family." He said, and she nodded, giving him her first genuine smile since this entire thing started. She grabbed his had and walked them up to Peter's room, settling in for an old fashioned movie night. Tony found himself dozing halfway through, feeling content being surrounded by family.
He must have fell asleep for longer than he thought, because when he jerked awake next, the TV was off and Peter was asleep next to him. He looked around, but his wife was nowhere to be seen. He felt concern bubble up inside him, until he saw the note sitting next to Peter.
Fury called. I had to go in. -Nat
Tony sighed, before getting up gently, taking time to re-tuck Peter in before heading to the living room. He gave a little jump at the figure sitting on the couch. It was Rhodey, and he had a sort of chagrined look on his face.
"They sent you to take the suit huh?" Tony said, taking a seat across from his friend. Rhodey gave him a tight smile.
"Yeah. I don't want to, Tones. I'm sorry." Rhodey said standing up. Tony nodded.
"It's fine. Take the silver one." Tony said, knowing full and well it was already coded for Rhodey to take. Rhodey gave him a sad nod, before heading in the direction of the lab. Tony just sighed and headed to the bar, drinking his sorrow into oblivion.
---
The next morning he found himself hungover, eating donuts, while sitting in a giant doughnut. He had dropped Peter off with Pepper that morning, and decided he needed some junk food to nurse his hangover.
"Sir! I’m gonna have to ask you to exit the doughnut." A familiar voice called from the ground. Tony turned and stared at Fury over his sunglasses. He rolled his eyes, but followed the man inside. Once they were sitting at a table, Tony spoke up.
"I told you I don’t wanna join your super-secret boy band." Tony said, earning a snort from Fury.
"No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How’s that working out for you?" Fury responded sarcastically. Tony rolled his eyes and sent the older man a glare.
"It’s… It’s… It’s… I’m sorry. I don’t wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly I’m a bit hung over. I’m not sure if you’re real of if I’m having..." Tony said, already done with the conversation.
"I am very real. I’m the realest person you’re ever gonna meet." Fury responded, and Tony rolled his eyes. He had only met this man a couple times, and he still wasn't used to his annoying presence.
"Just my luck. Where’s the staff here?" Tony spat back, showing Fury he wasn't taking this seriously. And by the glare the man sent him, he knew what Tony was doing.
"That’s not looking so good." Fury said next, moving the cuff of his under armor to see the palladium poisoning moving up his neck. Tony let out a sigh, curious as to how he found out.
"I’ve been worse." Tony retorted, dread filling his stomach, making him nauseous.
"We’ve secured the perimeter but I don’t think we should hold it for too much longer." his wife's voice cut in. He looked up at her in surprise, and then he froze. If Fury knew...then so did she. He met her eyes, and there was nothing but professionalism in them. She was pissed.
"Tasha...how?" Tony asked next, not able to get much more out due to shock.
"JARVIS told me, when I told him I was worried about you. I was waiting to see how long it would take you to tell me." she spat back, voice was cold and businesslike.
"I-" Tony started, but her cold glare cut him off. They stared at each other for a few moments before Fury cut in.
"You’ve been very busy. You made your assistant your CEO, you’re giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn’t know better..."
"You don’t know better. I didn’t give it to him. He took it." Tony said, despite knowing the truth.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You’re Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there and took your suit?" He asked incredulously, before turning to Natasha, "Is that possible?" he asked her. Natasha sent him a cold look before answering.
"Well, according to Tony's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage." Natasha replied, sounding very robotic. He spluttered for a second before she got up and left.
"What do you want from me?" Tony sighed. Fury let out a startled laugh.
"What do we want from you? What do you want from us? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with. Hit him." Tony barely processing the words before feeling a prick in his neck.
"Oh, God, are gonna steal my kidney and sell it? Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?" Directing his words at Fury, rather than Natasha, as he slowly felt better as whatever he was injected with ran it's course.
"What did we just do for you? That’s lithium dioxide. It’s gonna take the edge off. We’re trying to get you back to work." Fury said, getting back to business.
"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I’ll be right as rain." Tony said, slightly grateful for something to make him feel better.
"It’s not a cure, it just abates the symptoms." Natasha snapped angrily. Tony looked at her before deciding not to say anything.
"Doesn’t look like it’s gonna be an easy fix." Fury said, standing up. He motioned for Natasha to lead the way, and she was gone before Tony could say anything to her.
"Trust me, I know. I’m good at this stuff. I’ve been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I’ve tried every combination, every permutation of every known element." He said bitterly, looking out the window to where Natasha was waiting next to a black car.
"Well, I’m here to tell you, you haven’t tried them all." He said. "Meet me at the mansion." He demanded, before leaving.
---
He let out a sigh, this apology he had planned for Pepper was not going well. He opened his mouth to try again, when the door opened behind him, and he heard that familiar voice yet again.
"Ms Potts?" his wife was standing in the doorway. Why was she here? For Pepper?
"Hi, come on in." Pepper said kindly, which was new because didn't she hate Natasha, or Natalie.
"Wheels up in 25 minutes." Natasha replied coolly, handing Pepper something to sign. Tony was confused.
"Thank you." Pepper replied with a smile, and looked up as another person entered the room.
"Anything else, boss?" Happy's voice called, Tony turned to respond.
"I’m good, Hap." He said, just as Pepper spoke up too.
"No, I’ll be just another minute." She responded. So that's how it was going to be?
"I lost both the kids in the divorce." Tony joked, looking at Happy, who shook his head for Tony to stop. He was feeling annoyed so he turned to his wife and started speaking.
"Are you blending in well here, Natalie? Here are Stark Enterprises? Your name is Natalie, isn’t it? I thought you two didn’t get along?" Tony questioned, ignoring the not so subtle glare his wife was sending him.
"No. That’s not so." Pepper responded, and Tony rolled his eyes. Of course she's trying to get in with Pepper. What was she planning?
"It’s just me you don’t care for." he said, feeling a bit hurt when Pepper just shrugged. He was really pushing everyone away wasn't he? I guess it would make it easier for them when he eventually...he shook his head to clear his thoughts as Pepper started speaking again.
"Actually, while you’re here maybe you and Natalie could discuss the matter of the personal belongings." she said, her voice tight as she left the room with Happy.
"Absolutely." Natasha said, watching as they both left before turning on Tony. "I’m surprised you can keep your mouth shut." she spat. He shook his head, and pointed at her.
"Boy, you’re good. You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. How do you do it? You just tear things… You’re a triple impostor. I’ve never seen anything like you. Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?" He spat out, bringing up her cover, wanting to hurt her like she hurt him. He knew she didn't deserve being called out like that, like he didn't know who she truly was. And by the seething look she threw him she agreed.
"Can you drive yourself home or should I have you collected?" she asked, venom in her voice, before leaving and slamming the door behind her.
"You’re good." he mumbled, as he picked up the box of strawberries and headed to the door.
---
"Reboot complete. You got your best friend back." his wife's voice chimed in his ear, and he sighed in relief.
"Thank you very much, Agent Romanov." he said professionally, still not sure where they stood.
"Well done on the new chest piece. I am reading significant higher output and your vitals all look promising." she responded, and he could have sworn he heard a bit of relief in her voice.
"Yes, for the moment, I’m not dying. Thank you." he responded, heading over to where Rhodey was on the ground. He heard a sigh from the comms.
"So you really were dying? Were you ever going to tell me?" Natasha asked then. He sighed, he didn't really want to get into this now.
"I was going to tell you." he defended. She scoffed.
"Then why didn't you tell me?" she responded, coldly.
"I was going to make an omelet and tell you! But I chickened out. Now I will formally apologize when I'm not fighting off a Hammer-oid attack." he said exasperatedly. He heard her huff.
"Fine." she said. He rolled his eyes and got Rhodey to wake up.
Soon after the fight ended he heard all the drones start beeping.
"All these drones are rigged to blow. We gotta get out of here man." Rhodey said, and Tony took off.
"Nat?" he called into his comms.
"I'm fine, but Pepper is still there!" she said, and he flew quickly, just barely grabbing Pepper before the bots exploded around where she was standing.
---
"Well who was watching Peter while you and Rhodey were fighting these people?" Pepper asked, her voice almost a yell, as they walked into the mansion. Tony grimaced.
"I called a friend." Tony said, staying vague, until he heard sobbing coming from the living room. He spared Pepper a glance as he rushed into the room, seeing an awkward Coulson trying to console his son.
"Agent Coulson?" he heard Pepper ask, confused, from behind him. But he was too focused on Peter.
"Hey, Peter. Baby, Daddy's right here. It's okay." Tony consoled, as he picked Peter up and started rocking him as if he was a baby.
"Uncle Phil said you were fighting robots!" Peter wailed. "I thought you were going to die!" his cries kept getting louder despite how much Tony tried to calm him down. He shot Phil a glare, to which the man just shrugged.
"I did fight some robots. But I'm not dead. I'm right here, baby. You need to stop crying, you're going to make yourself sick." Tony said, sitting down on the ground with Peter in his arms, continuing the rocking motions. Peter seemed to calm down a bit, and Tony thought it had finally worked, when Peter shot up in his arms.
"But what about Momma?! Phil said she was there too! Where's Momma? I want Momma!" he shouted, and Tony tried not to be too mad at his son, for pretty much blowing their cover right in front of Pepper. He was only six. He glanced at Pepper who had her brows furrowed.
"Tony, what is he talking about. Tell me he doesn't think his mother is still..." she trailed off, looking between the two. Tony could barely hear her over Peter's screams. He was getting more and more hysterical by the minute. Tony decided now was as good a time as any for Pepper to find out. He turned to Coulson.
"Get her here. Now. Please." he said, voice desperate. Phil's eyes widened, before he nodded and rushed out of the room.
"Tony, what are you talking about?" Pepper asked, but Tony ignored her again.
"Hey Peter, shhhh. Uncle Phil went to go get Momma, okay? She'll be here any minute. But you need to calm down okay?" he whispered to his son. Peter seemed to understand what he said over his cries, because they calmed down substantially, but there were still tears rolling down his face. He continued rocking them back and forth, until he heard footsteps coming through the entryway.
"Peter?" he heard his wife call and soon she was rushing toward them. He handed Peter over willingly, but stayed close to his little family.
"Natalie?" he heard Pepper ask. Natasha heard and snapped her head up to send Tony a look.
"Sorry. Peter wouldn't calm down unless he saw you." Tony defended, and Natasha nodded, before turning her attention to Peter.
"Hey, bug. Why don't you take a breath and tell Momma why you're crying?" she said in a soft voice, so unlike the voice she used as Natalie. Peter hiccuped a few times, before answering, Natasha's hands coming up to wipe the tears from his face.
"Be-because Un-uncle Phil said you and Daddy were fighting robots. A-and Daddy came home, but you didn't. I thought you got hurted." Peter hiccuped. Natasha deflated at his words, and Tony rubbed a hand over her back.
"It's okay, baby. We're okay. We're here." she whispered pressing a kiss to his forehead. They all sat there in silence, as Natasha rocked their son back and forth. It didn't take long until he fell asleep. He helped Natasha stand, while keeping Peter in her arms.
"I'll take him to bed. I think you have some explaining to do." Natasha said, nodding towards Pepper. He nodded, pressing a kiss to her forehead, before she gave him a gentle smile and headed upstairs.
He turned to Pepper, who was sitting on the couch with a shocked look on her face.
"That was Natalie. From legal." she said, meeting his eyes. He drew in a breath.
"Kinda, yeah." he responded.
"And she's Peter's mom?" she asked again, before he could say anything else.
"Kinda." he said again. This seemed to agitate her, because she stood up and started pacing.
"You need to do a little better than kind of, Tony." she said, stopping to send him a glare.
"Okay, let's sit. It's better if we sit." he said, gently grabbing her arm and leading her back to the couch she had just abandoned.
"So that wasn't Natalie from legal?" she asked, then. He shrugged, and held his hands out for her to give him the floor.
"It was. But that was just her cover. You remember SHIELD?" he asked, she nodded. "Well she's an agent from SHIELD, a spy. She was undercover at SI to figure out why I signed the company to you." he explained.
"Okay, but how do you know her, how is she Peter's mom? What about Mary?" Pepper fired questions at him, and he held his hands up again.
"Mary is still Peter's biological mom. But Natasha is his...step mom I guess you could say. Because she's my...wife." he finished lamely. Pepper shot up.
"She's your wife?" she asked incredulously. "How?"
"We met when we were teenagers. She was at one of my parents functions on a mission. We met and kept running into each other. We ended up getting married a little bit after Peter was born." Tony explained.
"Okay...so this entire time, she was your wife? Undercover as your employee?" Pepper asked, sitting down again.
"Yes." Natasha spoke up, re-entering the room and taking a seat on Tony's other side. Tony reached out and grabbed her hand, craving the comfort.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Pepper asked, looking away from Natasha to Tony.
"He didn't tell anyone because I asked him not to. With my job, it makes it dangerous to have any family." Natasha replied coolly, and Tony gave her hand a squeeze. Pepper nodded, before standing up and smoothing out her skirt.
"Okay. You still have a lot of explaining to do. But I need a break. I'll see you in a couple days, Tony." she said, nodding to the both of them, before leaving. They sat there silently for a few minutes before they slowly turned to each other.
He stared into his wife's striking green eyes, pressing their foreheads together, gripping both her hands in his.
"I'm so sorry. For not telling you, that was stupid." he whispered, closing his eyes. He focused on their breaths overlapping between them.
"I'm sorry for spying on you." Natasha said, causing him to laugh softly. He reopened his eyes and met hers.
"I promise to never lie to you again, if you promise to never spy on me again?" he said, with a smirk.
"That sounds like a deal, Mr. Stark." She said, with a smirk of her own. He pulled away, but kept her hand in his. She furrowed her eyebrows, concern evident in her features.
"Tony?" she asked softly, rubbing her thumb along his knuckles. He looked up at her, tears in his eyes.
"I thought I was going to die, Tash. I thought I was never going to get to see you guys again. You have to understand-" he trailed off, a lump forming in his throat. Natasha studied him before making a hum of understanding.
"You were trying to push us away. To make it easier on us when you died." she stated, rather than questioned. He nodded, closing his eyes as the tears fell down his face.
"I didn't mean any of those things I said to you, I just thought...if you hated me, it wouldn't hurt so much." Tony said, sniffing. Natasha shook her head, and pulled him into a hug, his head tucked under her chin.
"You were wrong. It would have hurt just the same." she whispered, and Tony let out a choked sob. He felt her press a kiss to his head.
"It's okay. You're not going to die. Let's go get some sleep." she said, pulling him up and wrapping her arms around his waist, leading him up the stairs.
"I love you Tasha." he said, as she helped him under the covers.
"I love you too, Tony." she whispered back, kissing him softly, before turning the light off and settling herself on his chest.
"I'm so glad you're still alive, любовь." she said, mirroring what she said months previously. He pressed a kiss into her hair.
"Not as glad as I am. I could never leave you." he responded, feeling her drift off to sleep in his arms.
IRONMAN and BLACK WIDOW WILL RETURN