Voiceless

“Hey Bruce, it’s Pepper, I know you’re probably dealing with whatever it is that’s going on right now, but Tony could use a friend right now, thing is, he’s not talking, I mean, he can’t talk. You know how he is, no matter what has happened before in his life, he’s always been able to talk about things, and now he can’t, he’s writing and texting, but, it’s not the same. Anyway. Just give me a call when you can. Thanks.”

Pepper ended the call, then took the elevator down to where Tony was holed up in the workshop, he hadn’t left it for a couple of days, completely normal behavior for him, after he’d gone through something traumatic. What wasn’t normal was that at the moment, he wasn’t building anything, just sitting, staring into space.

Space. She tried not to think back to a few days ago when Rogers had come to her and told her where Tony was, adrift on a ship that was running out of air, he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her how he knew, but she knew he wouldn’t have been standing at her door if there had been any other way.

“Pepper. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I don’t know if he’ll trust anyone but you, we think the risk to you is low, but from the message we received, and based on information we have, I don’t know how much longer he has. I know how much he trusts you, and we have a window to get to him, but the window is closing…”

She jumped as her phone vibrated in her hand, bringing the present sharply into focus.

I’ll be there in a couple of hours. - Banner

Thanks. - P

As good as his word, Bruce arrived within two hours, and found Pepper absentmindedly going through a pint of ice cream. “Friday let me in, Pepper, you okay?” He searched her face for a moment then smiled kindly at her as she blinked at him. “Assuming he’s downstairs?”

Pepper nodded at him and whispered, “don’t. I mean, he doesn’t know, I mean, I didn’t know, I haven’t found a way, I mean, he’s just returned home, and things are weird right now -”

“You should tell him, Pep, you know how much he’s wanted -”

“He told me, the day, that day, right before the donut showed up - he’d had a dream, Bruce, the night before, that we had a kid, and I told him he was wrong when he asked me. But, the next day, when I knew, when I thought he was gone, not coming back - I started to feel funny, I thought it was just because - you know, but then it went on, and a couple nights ago, he stayed in his workshop like he used to when he needed time to work things through, I went out, bought a couple pregnancy tests... he’s not himself, Bruce, and god, I know he has reasons. I was there, Bruce, he thought I was a hallucination, he was nearly - I don’t think he knows how he got back, and I don’t know if I want him to know it was me, and then to tell him about the baby, I don’t think he’s ready -”

“You need to tell him, Pepper, tell him everything.”

Tony blinked and rolled his eyes as Strange stepped through a portal and dropped into the seat next to him. For the first time since he’d been home he wished he could speak. “You can, go ahead.”

“Strange?”

“Yeah, maybe, a bit. Sorry, couldn’t help it.”

“How?” Tony shook his head as if he could shake the rust from his voice.

“Does it matter?” Stephen asked quietly.

“It does if it’s not over, if people I care about are still at risk. Damn it, Stephen, I’m done. I just want to have a life, a real life, with Pepper if she hasn’t given up on me yet. I can’t remember everything, I’m not even sure how I got home, to be honest, one minute I was stuck on that damn ship, the next, I woke up in a hospital and I couldn’t talk.”

Strange offered him half a smirk. “I can imagine the hardship that caused you.”

“Why are you here, Stephen?”

“To let you off the hook, Tony.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means, Tony Stark, it’s time to let others take your place, to do the work you have done so honorably for so long. It’s no longer your job to save the world, or the universe for that matter, it never really was meant to be. It’s time for you to have a life. Go and talk to Pepper. She has always been your answer in the past, when you were lost, she has always found you. It was no different this time.” Strange watched the fog lift from Tony’s eyes, as he rose from the chair and laid a trembling hand on his friend’s shoulder, then turned and disappeared back through the portal.

“Pepper?”

“Tony?” Pepper turned and bit her lip as she saw the look in his eyes. “It was me. Steve came and told me, they needed someone you trusted, to bring you home. You thought - “

“I thought you were a hallucination, but it really was you, you were there. You brought me home, Pep, you saved me again, as you always have.” He wrapped his arms around her and she rested against his shoulder as he closed his eyes and breathed easily for the first time since he’d been home. “What is it? There’s something else.”

She pulled away from him and took both of his hands in hers, took a breath, then let it go slowly. “You remember the dream you told me about, the day you got on that ship, the dream about Morgan? You said the dream felt so real, and I - I didn’t know, I didn’t know for sure until last night. You were right, Tony. You were right.”

Tony pulled her back into his arms and kissed her lightly, then whispered into her hair, “what d’ya say we get married, hmm? Today. Just the two of us. We’ll throw a big party later, when things calm down, but, today, Miss Potts, the only thing I want to do is marry you.”

“No more flying off on crazy donuts? No more insane robots? No, never mind, don’t make me any more promises. Yes, Mr. Stark, I will marry you.”

“Today?”

“Yes, today, please.”