Pepper Potts
Chapter 11
“Tony! Oh my god, what’s that on the TV?!” Pepper was practically hysterical.
“There must've been a news drone around,” Natasha said dully.
Pepper was staring at the screen like she wanted it to burst into flames.
“We need to move him!” Pepper said.
“No need,” Tony said, his voice low as he slowly looked around. “Why is Steve holding me?”
“You fainted,” Clint said, staring at Tony.
“Oh yeah, I remember. Anyone else notice how whoever took the shot seemed to make it almost beautiful and poetic but sickening at the same time?” Tony rambled, a little dizzy. He was in panic mode, as everyone could see. Tony hated to show weakness in front of the team, and now one of his weakest moments was broadcasted all over for everyone to see.
“Tony, are you-” Natasha tried, but Tony interrupted.
“I’m fine. Someone get me a phone.”
“There’s nothing you can do to get it taken down,” Steve said.
“I don’t care. And put me down, why am I still being held?” Tony sounded like he was about to have a panic attack, so Steve just listened and set the man onto the ground so he didn’t make it worse. As nobody moved, he began hyperventilating. “A phone!” Tony yelled, thrusting his hand out.
Nobody gave him one.
“Fine, whatever. Jarvis,” he called.
“Yes, sir?” The AI said. Everyone noticed how his volume was lower than usual. Was that for Tony?
“Contact any station that has that and tell them that I am willing to pay for them to take it down and give me all of their copies,” he said. Tony was upset. He sat on the floor shaking, and his voice was shaking and he looked like he was about to cry, but he was refusing to show exactly how much he was being affected by this.
“Of course,” Jarvis replied.
“Good,” Tony said. “T- turn that off. We came here to have a meeting, and I will not let some silly news report stop it.”
“A ‘silly news report’ is part of what caused it,” Natasha said quietly.
“Technically yes, though I believe that the report is what pushed me over the edge. I was in a bad state for a long time before that, but I was in denial, and as we all now know, that did nothing to help the situation at all,” Tony said. He was talking about it as if it was someone else, almost detached from himself. “You all worried, and yes, I should’ve done something, you were all right. I just wanted to call this gathering so that we could all talk.” And then Tony looked around the room. “I guess Bruce didn’t come, but that’s fine. It’s okay, he’s upset, which is upsetting but it makes sense so I guess he won’t be here-”
“I’m here,” Bruce said, walking into the room. “I just had to make a phone call real quick.”
“Okay, okay good. I just wanted to say sorry for what I did, and I know it probably triggered some flashbacks for you, and I wasn’t thinking, but that’s not an excuse,” Tony was rambling. He really must be panicking, usually he was able to keep his composure in stressful situations.
“Sir,” Jarvis said, his voice remorseful. “Only the one station has it, but they refuse to give it up.”
“So hack into their servers and take it by force,” Tony said.
“That is illegal sir,” Jarvis said. “I will not help you break the law.”
“Dammit!” Tony yelled.
“Tony, calm down. I know that you’re dealing with a lot right now, but you need to breathe.” Bruce looked into Tony’s eyes and started to take deep breaths, trying to lead Tony into doing the same.
As Tony began to calm down, he looked around the room. “I’m sorry for the minor freak out, I’ll try to keep it from happening again,” Tony said.
“We’ve seen worse freakouts than that Tony,” Clint said. “Remember the Lion King?”
“Oh yeah,” Tony said.
“Wait, what happened during the lion king?” Pepper asked.
“Tony had a PTSD fueled panic attack and flashback,” Natasha said.
“And you never told me?!” Pepper yelled.
“Sorry,” Tony said, though he didn’t sound exactly remorseful. “I didn’t want to make you worry.”
“Well, of course I would worry! But now I’m worried AND I’m mad at you, so it’s only worse,” Pepper said angrily.
The Avengers watched the pair fight, and they knew that they weren’t as mad as they said they were, especially when they started to throw insults that made no sense.
“Pepper,” Tony said, giggling slightly after she called him a ‘Buttface,’”We’re here for a meeting, remember? Meetings are very serious, you should know that. You can’t be the CEO if you can’t follow proper meeting etiquette.”
“You did just fine. I’m pretty sure you went to one meeting in your entire time as CEO, and while there you fell asleep twice, threw thirteen pencils, and broke the table,” Pepper said.
“I’ll have you know I went to several meetings in my time as CEO,” Tony defended.
“Oh yes, remember when you said that everyone in that room except for you was an ‘uptight old man?’”
“They all were!”
“There was a forty-year-old woman there!”
“Forty used to seem very old to me. I was what, twenty- five at the time?”
“Yes.”
“I rest my case. Anyway, now we must stop ignoring everyone else in the room and acknowledge our meeting,” Tony said.
“Okay, fine, but we will talk alone later,” Pepper agreed.
They turned to everyone else in the room.
“You used to think that forty was old?” Natasha asked.
“Yes, I did. What, are you offended? How old are you anyway?” Tony answered the question with a question.
“I’ll never tell,” she replied.
“Fine, be that way. I’ll just hack into your S.H.I.E.L.D file later and read it for myself,” Tony huffed.
“You’re still hacking S.H.I.E.L.D?” Steve asked. “Tony, you need to stop doing that.”
“I’m not really hacking, that would mean that it took effort,” Tony said, bored.
“I wonder if S.H.I.E.L.D hacks you back,” Clint said.
“They probably try. I bet they can get into Stark Industries files, but not my personal ones. I also keep a bunch of fake accounts too that show signs of being hacked. Fury hasn't said anything, but I know that it probably… Infuriates him,” Tony laughed at the end, even though they've all heard him make the same joke several times before.
“You have fake accounts that S.H.I.E.L.D tries to hack?” Bruce asked.
“Of course,” Tony replied like it was obvious.
“What do they find?” Steve asked.
“A white screen that flashes a message in shiny red letters that say ‘hello hacker, welcome to my account,’ and then it sends a massive virus to whatever hacked it,” Tony said.
“That explains a lot,” Natasha said. “One time, I was walking through the halls and I heard a bunch of screaming from a computer lab. I looked through a window, and I saw a huge screen covered in a bunch of dancing Iron Man animations. No matter what they did, the little Iron Mans wouldn’t go away,” there was even humor in Natasha’s voice. “You could gear Fury screaming ‘Stark’ throughout the whole compound.”
“Great!” Tony said, a large smile lighting up his face. “Now, meeting time. There is a reason for us being here. I vote Pepper to lead.”
“I will. Everyone please take a seat and direct your eyes to the screen,” Pepper said, stepping in front of the massive Tv. Everyone listened, as Pepper just used her ‘listen to me or I will destroy your life’ voice. Nobody doubted her abilities. Clint thought Pepper was just as scary as Natasha sometimes.
“Would anyone like to say anything?” She started, looking at the group. Bruce raised his hand as if this were a classroom and not a living area.
“I wanted to apologize to Tony for how I reacted earlier,” Bruce said.
“No need, you were in a bad place, and it's not your fault,” Tony said sincerely.
“Okay, so now first order of business is done. Next, we are going to discuss how everyone else is feeling after this. This affected all of you too,” Pepper said with a single sharp clap of her hands.
“Is this like some kind of group therapy?” Clint asked.
“No, it's a meeting,” Pepper said, smiling. “Who wants to go first?”
Nobody volunteered.
“If nobody starts talking right now, I will choose for you.” Pepper’s voice was menacing, though she still had a bright, professional smile on her face.
“I would just like to say that you are doing a wonderful job, Ms. Potts,” Tony said.
“Sh, it's not your turn to talk yet. It is… Steve's turn!” When Pepper said the super soldier’s name, she pointed to him.
Pepper sat down and pulled out her Stark pad, where she opened up the notes app. “J, please show my pad up on the TV screen.”
“Of course, Miss Potts,” Jarvis said politely. On the screen, there was a document that Pepper had just started, with the title “ The ‘The Avenger’s Have Feelings Too’ Meeting.” Under that was a heading that read ‘Key Points of Steve’s feels.”
“So, with everything that's been going on, how have you felt?” Pepper asked, giving Steve a calculating look.
“I don't know… Fine, I guess. I think the hardest part for me, personally, other than last night, was a few weeks ago when I walked in on Tony after he had a nightmare,” Steve said, clearly uncomfortable. (Reference to Chapter 3)
Pepper nodded and wrote that down. “And why was that so hard for you?”
“Well, because I didn't like to see Tony like that. I know how it feels to have nightmares every night, it's awful. And then he was so resistant to te idea of getting help, even from us, which sucked.”
Pepper again nodded. “Is there anything else you would like me to add to your section?” she asked, after writing down a brief summary of what Steve said.
Steve shook his head no, but she added one more thing anyway.
“Steve cares about Tony and his well being very much.”
Steve looked at Tony. “It's true,” he said. “I just want you to get better.”
“Tony, do you still have nightmares?” Pepper asked.
“Yeah, but Jarvis sends an alert to Steve or Bruce, and one of them will help me out,” Tony said.
“So you're saying that telling people about your problems presented a good solution, which you can say has helped you considerably?” Pepper asked.
“I mean, yeah, I guess. The nightmares have been a little easier for me to deal with now, especially after Steve and I talked about some techniques that helped him. They've been working pretty well,” Tony said. “Also, I see what you are doing Ms. Potts, you’re not fooling me.”
“I’m not trying to fool anyone,” Pepper said. “So, who’s next?”
Still, nobody answered.
Pepper sighed. “Do I really have to pick again? Fine. Clint, you’re up!”
The archer groaned when Pepper wrote a new heading, called “Clint’s feels.”
“I guess I just wanted to say that I know what you’re going through. The Loki incident was hard on me too. I mean, my mind was literally taken over.” A pause. “You could’ve talked to me.”
Pepper wrote down “relates to your experiences,” and “wishes you talked” on the document.
“I would have but I just… didn't’ want to burden you with it. It was a weakness, and in my past, every weakness has been used against me. I mean, I’m going to have to make a statement to the public about my personal life because of a weak moment. And all because some mediocre news station wanted to make some more money,” Tony said. He put his head down, and his shoulders slumped like he was under a huge weight.
“Did you really expect me to exploit you like that?” Clint asked, clearly hurt.
“At the time, I guess I probably did, deep down. I have some major trust issues that I probably have to work through,” Tony said. “But I do trust you now.”
“Good,” Clint said.
Pepper wrote “to be trusted” under Clint’s name.
“By the way, if you want, I can probably convince S.H.I.E.L.D to get that taken off of the news for you. As a ‘matter of national security.’ Then it should be easy for you to get the rest of the copies down,” Clint added.
“Please,” Tony said.
Clint nodded and left the room, phone already out as he walked through the door that lead to the kitchen.
“So now we all agree that not trusting your team was stupid, reckless, and self-destructive?” Pepper asked.
“Yeah,” Tony said.
“Good. So I assume I must choose again. I do? Okay. I choose Bruce,” Pepper said, already typing “Bruce’s feels.”
“Didn’t we already deal with me?” Bruce asked.
“Unofficially. Now we’re doing it officially, and more in depth. See? I’m even writing it down,” Pepper said, adding “official and in depth” underneath the title of the document.
“I think Tony’s eccentricities are finally driving you mad,” Bruce commented.
“Oh please, he drove me mad years ago,” Pepper laughed.
“I’m sorry Pep,” Tony said, smiling.
“It’s no big deal. Now Bruce, stop changing the subject. Talk about your feelings,” she said.
“Fine. Tony, seeing you like that on the roof messed me up because I know how dark someone’s world has to be for them to go as far as even thinking of killing themselves, let alone almost go through with it. You have to remember that I’ve been there too, that I understand at least a little bit of what you’re going through,” Bruce said.
Pepper wrote the whole speech down. “Tony, now you respond,” she said.
“I know you were there. And yes, it was a dark moment, but I only made it worse on myself,” Tony said.
“You did what a lot of people with depression do,” Bruce said.
“Yes, but I’m supposed to be a genius,” Tony argued.
“Me too,” Bruce replied.
Pepper wrote down that they were both “stupid geniuses.”
“So Tony, you admit that just seeking help would have been your best course of action?” Pepper asked.
“Yes,” he answered.
Pepper wrote that down.
“Okay, now it’s Natasha’s turn!” Pepper said. “Nat’s feels” was added to the paper.
“I found you like that Tony. I found you on the roof when you almost died. I have nightmares about it still because I can’t even fathom that someone like you can be saved by someone like me. I’ve hurt a lot of people-”
“So have I,” Tony cut in.
“Yeah, but you’ve helped a lot too,” Natasha muttered.
“And you helped save the world in the New York attack. And are you seriously saying that you’ve never helped anyone while working for S.H.I.E.L.D?” Tony asked.
“Yes, but-”
“So why are you putting yourself down. I think that you are an excellent hero and that without you, I might not even be here right now,” Tony said, comforting her.
Pepper wrote “Just as insecure as Tony,” on her document.
“Thanks,” Natasha said. “But still, I can be classified as a bad person-”
“Hey,” Tony said menacingly. “Don’t you dare call my friend a bad person.”
Natasha laughed, and Tony cracked a smile. “You are truly unique Tony Stark.”
“Thank you!”
Pepper had the whole conversation written down, and at the bottom, she wrote that these two trying to comfort each other was “cuter than two puppies cuddling.”
“You two better be friends forever,” Pepper said to them, “or I will be severely disappointed.”
Everyone in the room laughed before Pepper put up her hands to silence them all. “And now it’s my turn,” she said.
Tony looked at her in surprise as she wrote “Pep’s feels” on the paper.
Underneath it, she wrote “I’m very upset that Tony didn’t talk to me sooner, especially before the conference when he had the perfect opportunity during lunch.”
“I’m sorry,” Tony said.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I didn’t know about the nightmares, the PTSD or panic attacks. We’re a team Tony, and you kept so many secrets from me. Important ones.”
“I know, and I promise that I’ll tell you everything from now on.” Tony knew that he meant it.
“Well, what I want to know is what your triggers are. What do all of us need to be careful of, so that we don’t throw you into a panic attack?” Pepper asks.
At the bottom of the page, she wrote “Tony’s triggers.”
“Okay. Well, there’s complete darkness. And the cold. Or really, right now, even mentioning it too many times will set me off. You can ask once, but if I tell you to stop, then you really have to stop,” Tony said.
Everyone nodded.
Suddenly, Clint re-entered the room. “Good news,” he said. “S.H.I.E.L.D got it off the news. They are even helping Jarvis sweep the internet for it, and hacking everything and deleting all traces. Pretty soon, it’ll all mostly be gone.”
Tony smiled. “Good,” he said. “A lot of people have seen it, they’ll all want to talk about it.”
“And I’ll help you deal with them,” Pepper said, walking across the room to where Tony was sitting and grabbing his hand.
“We all will,” Steve said from his spot on the couch.
Tony knew that these people would always be there for him. Of course, there would be ups and downs, and it would still be a while before he could say that he was fully over it. And maybe he never would be over it. But that would be okay, because he’d have his friends- no, his family- there to support him through every up and down.