Second Chances

F I V E

For the next two weeks, I haven't seen much of Stark at all. He's mostly been in the lab or out doing some extravagant event. When he's in the lab I don't bother him, I'll set food out and have JARVIS remind him. I make sure he showers and sleeps every so often, he needs someone to take care of him. I know he's been drinking again because most of the alcohol is gone and I smell it coming through the doors. Theses past few days have hurt us both, I've been wondering if I've done the right thing. I know he thinks I'm abandoning him but we both knew this was never going to be anything. We both have separate lives, no matter how much I want to be with him. I don't want to be in the spot light 24/7 and he's to popular and important not to be. I've been talking to Fury and my father about the future missions and how I need to handle the current situation but they're saying two different things. My father believes I should follow my heart while Fury thinks I should follow my head and how I've been programmed. I've packed everything up and I've gotten dressed for the day, I walk downstairs with my bags. I get into the kitchen and start to write the letter for Stark.

𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑘,
𝐼𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒. 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡. 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑡 i 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔."
𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠

I step back and look at the letter, I unzip my bag and place the watch on top. I had it made for him after the panic attack , I wanted him to be able to have me here for him. Even if it was just a recording of being comforted. I grab the stuff and go to walk towards the lab, the door opens as Pepper steps in. She seems shocked that I'm packed up, I walk over to her and smile.

"Hello Pepper."

"Hey Alicia, going somewhere."

I glance down at the bags and lightly frown, I turn back to her.

"Yea, I'm going home for a little while. Can I say something."

"Umm. Sure."

"I want you to know that I never wanted to come between you and Stark. I'm glad that we were able to talk with civility. He really does need you right now, I just want him to be ok."

"What he needs is you, the breakup was mutual. I seen the way he looked at you, we both knew that we weren't in love with each other."

I hold out the letter and watch out to her, she takes it and looks at me.

"Can you give this to him, tell him that the button is for delicate emergencies. He'll know what you're talking about, I cooked his a few plates of Spaghetti and can you take the alcohol from him."

She shakes her head, I smile and pull her into a hug.

"I'm glad that we were able to become friends."

"Me too"

I pull away and hand her a piece of paper.

"It's my phone number, don't give it to him. I feel that this would be better, I know if he called me then I'd come back."

"You love him."

"I don't exactly know what it is but I care for him. More than I have anyone in my life, it's different. He's a good man, these past few months have taught me that much. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be getting on my plane."

She nods as I start to walk to the door, I smile as I open the door.

"Goodbye JARVIS, keep them safe."

"Of course Princess."

I laugh and walk out, I get into my car and start the drive.
———————————————————————
Peppers POV
I walk down the stairs and into the lab, he's lifting himself on a pull up bar.

"Tony..."

He doesn't say anything, I walk over to him and he jumps. He turns to see me standing there, he seems sadden.

"Here, she wanted you to have this."

He looks down as I hold out the watch and letter. He sets them down as I just want the denial run through him, he did love her.

"You need to eat, get a little rest."

"I had a bite to eat, I didn't know if you'd be home. Happy told me you were with Aldrich Killian."

The suit turns its face toward me, as if to look at me accusingly.

"What?"

"What?"

"Aldrich Killian? What are you checking up on me?"

"Happy was concerned."

"No, you're spying on me."

"I wasn't..."

"I'm going to bed

I turn around and starts walking off, he calls for me.

"Hold on. Come on. Pep."

I starts walking upstairs.

"Hey, I admit it! My fault. Sorry."

I stop and looks at him, I can see that he wants to talk. It's always been hard for him to open up.

"I'm a piping hot mess. It's been going on for a while, I haven't said anything."

I walk back down, I move closer to him.

"Nothing's been the same since New York."

"Oh really? Well, I didn't notice that, at all."

"You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain 'em. Gods, aliens, other dimensions. I...I'm just a man in a can. The only reason I haven't cracked up is probably because of you. I'm lucky. But, I can't sleep. You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know, I tinker."