Characters: Tony Stark, Pepper
Potts, Charlotte Sparrow
Notes: PG15, implied
Tony/Pepper, prequel to 'Practical Applications'.
Summary: It's been a week
since Tony's been back home and a concerned Pepper calls in
reinforcements.
Real Friends Buy You
In-N-Out
by Ithildin
c. June 2008
“I’m really glad you’re here.” Strain
and worry were evident in Pepper’s eyes.
Charlotte
Sparrow hugged the young woman. “I would have come sooner, but I
figured he had enough on his plate as it was and didn’t need anyone
else hovering over him.”
“He’s my boss, so I can only hover so
much, you know? He’s just been…. I’m worried about him,” she finally
admitted. The other woman nodded sympathetically. “But you’re his
friend, and so far, the only one who hasn’t ticked him off.”
“Just give me time, Virginia,” she
said with a smile. “Is he in the workshop?” Charlotte glanced at the
stairs.
“Yeah, I’ll take you down.”
“No need, I have a code. You go home
and get an early night for once, okay?”
Pepper looked worried. “Are you sure?”
“Perfectly.
It’s all right. I can handle Tony, trust me.” She took Pepper by the
shoulders, turning her around. “Go home, get some rest. Tomorrow is
another day.”
@___________________________@
Charlotte
paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking through the glass doors.
Tony hadn’t even noticed her, so involved in whatever it was he was
working on – some sort of robot leg, it looked like. He was far too
pale, and had an air of fragility that frightened her. This wasn’t the
Tony, self-confident and cocky, that she’d known the last six years.
Never had he seemed so…mortal. From the first night they’d met,
he’d always been larger than life, instantly seizing a place in her
heart that would be his till the day he died. Now all she wanted to do
was protect him from the world.
Taking a deep breath, she
tapped her security code into the touch panel imbedded in the glass,
the door whooshing open. Even that didn’t attract his attention.
Stepping farther into the workshop, the heels of her boots tapping
against the concrete floor, Charlotte approached his workstation.
His
attention still totally on whatever it was he was working on, he said,
“Took you long enough to show up, Birdie. I was beginning to think you
didn’t care.” Tony shot her a look before once again concentrating on
the task at hand.
Jarvis; of course he would have
informed his
creator of her arrival. That, or Tony had developed psychic powers. She
preferred the former. “Don’t be stupid, Tony. You don’t like it when I
fuss, so I didn’t. Otherwise I would have been at your side when you
landed in Germany. I figured after a week had passed, you would forgive
me for a little concern.” It took a Herculean effort for her to keep
her tone light and nonchalant when what she wanted to do was throw her
arms around him.
He turned, and when he looked at her
this
time, he didn’t look away. His eyes were dark wells of suppressed
emotion. “I haven’t lost it, Charlotte! I’m not crazy, and I’m not
suffering from PTSD!”
“Did I say that?” she asked softly,
laying a hand on his forearm, doing her best to mask shock at the sight
of the glowing Arc Reactor imbedded in his chest. Pepper had briefed
her, but still, it was hard to take in.
“You didn’t have to.” He pulled his
arm away. “Everyone else seems to think so.”
She
fought back tears at the hurt in his voice. “Since when am I
‘everyone’, Tony? And it isn’t true anyways. Pepper doesn’t think that.
Her only sin is to care about you more than she should, more than is
good for her.”
Tony slammed a fist into a pile of
electrical
components, sending them scattering in all directions. “They don’t
understand,” he told her, his voice little more than a cracked whisper.
“They might not, but I’d like to. Talk to me,
Tony.
Please?” Some of her frantic worry for him leaked into her voice
despite her best efforts. This time, when she grasped his arm, he
didn’t pull away.
“There are things I need
to do, that
I have to do. I can’t stop till it’s done. There is nothing that
matters more to me now than seeing through what I know I have to do.”
As he spoke, he took her hand in his in an almost painful grip. “I owe
it to those Airmen who died protecting me, to all of the men and women
who have died protecting us.”
This time, Charlotte
didn’t try and fight the tears. Drawing Tony into her arms, she
whispered, “Why did you think I wouldn’t understand that?”
“I
don’t know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have doubted you.” He returned her
embrace, laying his head on her shoulder. “There’s so much I want to
say, but can’t. It’s like the words are trapped, trying to get out.”
She
smoothed back his hair like he was a child, trying to comfort him with
her touch. “You just need time, Tony love. Just time. Those of us who
love you will be here when you need us; when you’re ready.”
He
nodded, drawing away. “I have a new appreciation for those people,
Birdie. I had three months to contemplate my life, and there was a lot
of it that I was ashamed of.”
“We learn, we grow stronger. No
regrets, Tony; life is far too short.”
“No more regrets,” he agreed, placing
a hand against the side of her head, his fingers twining into her hair.
“You
have no idea how delightful it is that you finally agree with me,” she
told him with a wide grin, kissing him on the cheek.
“Gotta throw you the occasional
bone,” he replied with a matching smile.
“Uh
huh. So, how about I make you some dinner, which I have on good
authority you’ve missed yet again, and then you get some sleep. In the
morning, you can show me what exactly it is you’re working on.”
“Are you sure you want to know?” He
searched her eyes.
“Absolutely
positive. I will always want to know what’s important to you, Tony.
What you care about. I will always be here for you, whenever you need
me.”
His hands clenched a little. “Even at
3 AM when I wake up screaming from a nightmare?” His eyes darted away
then back again.
“Especially then,” she said firmly.
He
nodded, squeezing her hand. Then he took a sharp breath. His next words
were more like the old Tony. “I was thinking hamburgers would be good.”
“Yeah? I was planning on steak.”
“Steak? Do you think I’m made of
money?”
“Actually, yes.”
“Oh, right.”
“I know it’s hard for you to keep
track of these things,” Charlotte said, laughing.
“Okay, a compromise. We take the Audi
and get In-N-Out. How’s that for a plan?”
“As long as I can get mine Animal
Style!”
“Sweetheart, I am all
about Animal Style,” he half growled, leering down at her.
Giggling, Charlotte took both Tony’s
hands in hers. “Then what are we waiting for?”
“You’re paying, right? Oww!!”
End
* Note: In-N-Out has a 'secret menu',
which is passed down verbally from one generation to the next [g]
'Animal Style' is the most popular one: pickles, extra spread, extra
grilled onions, & mustard fried onto each meat patty.
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