Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Five
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Five:
James Rhodes finally had had enough and came pounding on Tony’s front door-where he’d been standing for the past ten minutes. His knuckles were starting to hurt…
“TONY!” he shouted. “Get your ass up here and open the door so I can yell at you face to face!”
Surprisingly, the door opened. Tony, also shockingly, looked guilty. “Get in here,” he stepped to the side and allowed his oldest friend to breeze past him. “Pepper, how about some coffee?”
Rhodey looked back at the redhead (suspiciously blushing) and watched her nod as if everything was just hunky-dory. It was like she’d never even been pissed at her boss for deviating from the whole “stick-to-the-cards” plan and Rhodes wondered just what the hell Tony said to her to change her mind.
“Rhodey, I’m sorry.”
Rhodes had to sit down. He almost missed the edge of the sofa and gaped at Tony in disbelief. “What?!”
“I’m sorry. I just… I couldn’t…” Tony dropped beside him and groaned into his hands. “It was a stupid thing to say and I shouldn’t have even dignified what’s-her-face with a response. I mean, ‘not taking any questions’ is kind of a big hint to shut up, right? And it’s not like I couldn’t have ignored her and just read the freakin’ cards… So I’m saying ‘sorry’ for being a moron,” he rambled. Tony Stark rambled and flailed his hands about.
Pepper returned from the kitchen with, somehow, three mugs of coffee. As always, she remembered that James took his with enough sugar to turn it into a solid and Tony took his black. Rhodes sipped at the coffee for a moment before resting a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “It’s fine, Tony. The guys from SHIELD came right in and said some bureaucratic double-speak that basically got you in the clear. I say ‘basically’ because you know how reporters are. You said you were Iron Man, and they’re going to run with it.
“Coulson mentioned something about PTSD-” Rhodes gave Tony a pointed look. “I think they might have had something there with that,” he added.
“What, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?”
“No, People That Suck D-”
“Hey!” Tony held a hand up. “There’s a lady in the room…” he stage whispered.
Pepper smiled into her coffee.
“Tony, you’ve-”
“I’ve changed since the last time you had to watch what I said. You already know this. Who’s to say it’s not for the better?”
Rhodes took in the serious expression on Tony’s face and noted the already darkening bruise on his cheekbone, the cut on his nose, the slice in his right eyebrow, and the way he avoided using his left hand.
“Who’s to say it’s not for the worse where your health is considered?”
“Rhodey…”
“Seriously, when I found you last night…”
“That won’t happen again,” Tony assured-a dark determination had entered his eyes along with the silent order to never tell Pepper what happened to him.
Drinking his super-sweet coffee, Rhodes found himself agreeing with Tony. “I’ll buy that. And I’ll agree that some of the change is good. But Tony, I am making you see a military psychiatrist to get some of this other crap out. I know you haven’t moved on, Tony. The board of directors are with me in this decision-you will still be in charge, but you need to fix yourself.”
He noted that Pepper looked like she was fighting the urge to grab Tony and force him into nodding.
She didn’t need to. “Fine. I’ll talk to a shrink,” Tony shrugged.
Rhodey finished his coffee. “And I’m making you see someone about that hand.”
Tony made an “awe-shucks” face and sighed. “Yes, mother.”
“I’ll see myself out,” Rhodey said with a sideways smile. He gave Tony’s shoulder a brotherly squeeze.
He left his empty cup on the giant petrified wood tree stump that served as a coffee table. “And I’ll have them send a car around to take you to your appointments,” he added as he crossed the large room and opened the front door. “Bright and early tomorrow.”
Tony groaned into his coffee cup as the front door all but slammed shut. “I hate shrinks,” he grumbled.
“I’ll cancel all of your other appointments for tomorrow.”
Tony looked at Pepper in shock. “I had appointments? Who with?”
Pepper pulled her Blackberry out of her hip holster like some kind of modern age gunslinger and scrolled through Tuesday. “An interview with Karen Roberts from CNN about Arc technology, A speech to the freshman class at MIT, both are pre-written… Then there was a meeting with Stark Industries’ European branch in Manchester. And Agent Phil Coulson from SHIELD called. I think there might be a chance he wanted to yell at you.”
Tony muttered something rude and sipped his coffee.
“Then there’s a charity dinner auction in the evening on Friday night. Um, it’s for children and they say that they’re holding it earlier this year. They wanted your RSVP as soon as possible. It’s usually a Christmas event.”
Pepper looked up from her Blackberry to see Tony grin. “Child’s Play? The video game thing?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Don’t cancel that. I love going to that. You should come, too.”
Pepper smirked. “Is that your weird way of asking me to go with you?”
Tony shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“That’s right.”
Tony suddenly looked a bit like a teenaged boy who just asked his favorite girl to the prom. He bit his lower lip and smiled.
TBC
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AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Five:
James Rhodes finally had had enough and came pounding on Tony’s front door-where he’d been standing for the past ten minutes. His knuckles were starting to hurt…
“TONY!” he shouted. “Get your ass up here and open the door so I can yell at you face to face!”
Surprisingly, the door opened. Tony, also shockingly, looked guilty. “Get in here,” he stepped to the side and allowed his oldest friend to breeze past him. “Pepper, how about some coffee?”
Rhodey looked back at the redhead (suspiciously blushing) and watched her nod as if everything was just hunky-dory. It was like she’d never even been pissed at her boss for deviating from the whole “stick-to-the-cards” plan and Rhodes wondered just what the hell Tony said to her to change her mind.
“Rhodey, I’m sorry.”
Rhodes had to sit down. He almost missed the edge of the sofa and gaped at Tony in disbelief. “What?!”
“I’m sorry. I just… I couldn’t…” Tony dropped beside him and groaned into his hands. “It was a stupid thing to say and I shouldn’t have even dignified what’s-her-face with a response. I mean, ‘not taking any questions’ is kind of a big hint to shut up, right? And it’s not like I couldn’t have ignored her and just read the freakin’ cards… So I’m saying ‘sorry’ for being a moron,” he rambled. Tony Stark rambled and flailed his hands about.
Pepper returned from the kitchen with, somehow, three mugs of coffee. As always, she remembered that James took his with enough sugar to turn it into a solid and Tony took his black. Rhodes sipped at the coffee for a moment before resting a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “It’s fine, Tony. The guys from SHIELD came right in and said some bureaucratic double-speak that basically got you in the clear. I say ‘basically’ because you know how reporters are. You said you were Iron Man, and they’re going to run with it.
“Coulson mentioned something about PTSD-” Rhodes gave Tony a pointed look. “I think they might have had something there with that,” he added.
“What, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?”
“No, People That Suck D-”
“Hey!” Tony held a hand up. “There’s a lady in the room…” he stage whispered.
Pepper smiled into her coffee.
“Tony, you’ve-”
“I’ve changed since the last time you had to watch what I said. You already know this. Who’s to say it’s not for the better?”
Rhodes took in the serious expression on Tony’s face and noted the already darkening bruise on his cheekbone, the cut on his nose, the slice in his right eyebrow, and the way he avoided using his left hand.
“Who’s to say it’s not for the worse where your health is considered?”
“Rhodey…”
“Seriously, when I found you last night…”
“That won’t happen again,” Tony assured-a dark determination had entered his eyes along with the silent order to never tell Pepper what happened to him.
Drinking his super-sweet coffee, Rhodes found himself agreeing with Tony. “I’ll buy that. And I’ll agree that some of the change is good. But Tony, I am making you see a military psychiatrist to get some of this other crap out. I know you haven’t moved on, Tony. The board of directors are with me in this decision-you will still be in charge, but you need to fix yourself.”
He noted that Pepper looked like she was fighting the urge to grab Tony and force him into nodding.
She didn’t need to. “Fine. I’ll talk to a shrink,” Tony shrugged.
Rhodey finished his coffee. “And I’m making you see someone about that hand.”
Tony made an “awe-shucks” face and sighed. “Yes, mother.”
“I’ll see myself out,” Rhodey said with a sideways smile. He gave Tony’s shoulder a brotherly squeeze.
He left his empty cup on the giant petrified wood tree stump that served as a coffee table. “And I’ll have them send a car around to take you to your appointments,” he added as he crossed the large room and opened the front door. “Bright and early tomorrow.”
Tony groaned into his coffee cup as the front door all but slammed shut. “I hate shrinks,” he grumbled.
“I’ll cancel all of your other appointments for tomorrow.”
Tony looked at Pepper in shock. “I had appointments? Who with?”
Pepper pulled her Blackberry out of her hip holster like some kind of modern age gunslinger and scrolled through Tuesday. “An interview with Karen Roberts from CNN about Arc technology, A speech to the freshman class at MIT, both are pre-written… Then there was a meeting with Stark Industries’ European branch in Manchester. And Agent Phil Coulson from SHIELD called. I think there might be a chance he wanted to yell at you.”
Tony muttered something rude and sipped his coffee.
“Then there’s a charity dinner auction in the evening on Friday night. Um, it’s for children and they say that they’re holding it earlier this year. They wanted your RSVP as soon as possible. It’s usually a Christmas event.”
Pepper looked up from her Blackberry to see Tony grin. “Child’s Play? The video game thing?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Don’t cancel that. I love going to that. You should come, too.”
Pepper smirked. “Is that your weird way of asking me to go with you?”
Tony shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“That’s right.”
Tony suddenly looked a bit like a teenaged boy who just asked his favorite girl to the prom. He bit his lower lip and smiled.
TBC
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