Present of the Past || TONY STARK fanfiction

Chapter 2: ''Welcome home''

Ransom.

2009-2011

I arrived at stark industries. Pepper was waiting for me at the entrance of the building. Her eyes were red and puffy. "What happened?" I was running inside. I grabbed her hands in mine. "I don't know" I wanted to grab her tighter. But someone interrupted us. "Ms. Potts come take a look" a man in a dark suit approached us.

Pepper nodded and pulled me with her. People were standing around a monitor. As we got closer I had to find my grip. There he was. His chest was wrapped with bondage blood was visible. It felt like I wasn't getting any air. "Oh no," tears were prickling in the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill. I turned around and walked out of the group.

Someone appeared behind me. "What are you gonna do?" I said. "All our men and women are looking for him trying to get him safe" I bit the inside of my cheek and my blood started to boil. "That's not enough!" I hissed. "Agent Evans, I assure you we're doing all we can" Fury tried to calm me down. "You better bring him back alive" I bit. "Or I swear to God" Fury raised his hands. "If you guys don't do the job I will go and get him myself!" this time I raised my voice. But no one seemed to notice. "I'll try everything I can"

***

Days passed by. Pepper and I barely slept. Time went by slowly almost like it was going in slow motion. People were trying to feed me. But I wasn't hungry. I just wanted him back doing the stupidest stuff. But I was also sure that he could save de world the way he saved me. "Agent Evans" my name came through. Waking me from my haze. "Agent Evans" this time I looked up. "Fury!" I jumped up from my chair. "Do you have news?" I asked my voice almost sounding like I was begging. "We found him" Joy took over me but it was as fast as it came. "Is he-" Fury interrupted me. "He is alive. He's safe" I was relieved and I felt tears prickling in my eyes.

I looked around. The world started moving again. I felt alive again. "Pepper!" I yelled. I ran up to her and pulled her into a hug. I turned around. I wanted to say thank you but he was in true Fury style.

Everyone and everything started moving and so did I. "What do we do now?" I said looking at Pepper. She turned her head at the same time. "Don't know" I raised my shoulders. "Just wait and see maybe go set up his house" Pepper nodded. "You go," she said. "You know his house better than anyone" I frowned. I wanted to stay here. "Okay"

I grabbed my stuff and went back upstairs. On my way out I ran into Happy. "Hello, Mrs. Evans" I smiled. "That's a name I haven't heard since 1945" Happy looked confused. "Mrs. Evans was my mother" his lips moved into an 'O'. "My apologies" he knew talking about my parents was a touchy subject. But I felt like I was constantly talking about them. I never got to say goodbye. "Don't worry, my mom was an amazing person" Happy nodded.

"I have a question" Happy perked up. He looked at me like he was expecting something special. "Yes?" His voice was shaky. "Would you like to come with me to Tony's house to set everything for his return?" Happy's shoulders slumped. But he smiled at me. "Yes, of course" I smiled back and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Thank you"

We went to Tony's house. Everything was just how he left it the last time I got here. The bottle of whisky we opened weeks ago was still standing on the kitchen counter. Two glasses were still standing there. The one I drank from was still half full. It made my heart flutter. I remembered that we were arguing about something stupid. I guess it was about what Black Sabbath song was the best or something like that. I just remembered me saying that it didn't matter and that I was 64 years old so what do I know? It made him laugh so hard that he almost snorted the Whisky through his nose. It resulted in me spilling half of my glass on the ground and it was still there. We were so drunk.

I only left this house because I couldn't handle the memory of his father. Tony remembered him as a horrible human being and here I was praising him. But every time he'd remind me that Howard is the reason why I'm here and stuck 64 years into the future. He had a point. It became so bad that I started to resent Howard and seeing Tony daily made it worse. At least when I worked for him I knew after the 8 hours of work I put in I'd go home and be alone without him.

Now seeing Tony so low and vulnerable made me not want to leave him anymore. It made me feel protective. I knew it wasn't my responsibility and trusting a Stark is what got me into this mess in the first place. But I couldn't help myself. I felt like I was supposed to be here for a reason.

Lucky for me Happy took me out of my ongoing thoughts. "So Mrs. Evans what do you want me to do?" he asked. "Maybe check the rooms and living room clean up some eh... Clothes that aren't supposed to be there" I said awkwardly scratching my head. Happy laughed. "I will"

Tony.

It hurt just to breathe For a while my life was on the line. Thinking about it sent me back into a frenzy. Rhody placed a hand on my shoulder to calm down. "Next time you ride with me" I smiled. "Yeah" I looked out of the airplane window.

There ain't gonna be a next time, I thought to myself.

Ransom.

A few days passed. Tony was still recovering from his wounds. The press was all over him and the new thing in tony's chest. "He called it an arc reactor. It was supposed to be a mini version of what powered the company. "But is it safe though?" I asked. "God, no. But it keeps me alive" Tony laughed. "But it's safe with me" I looked him dead in the eye. "Stark and safe don't go together" I raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Oh stop it I kept you safe" I shook my head smiling. "Whatever you say big guy" Tonny shifted in his seat. "It's supposed to fire the suit right?" Tony nodded. He sat down and sighed. "What's wrong?" I took a chair and sat down right in front of him. "Obediah" the name alone made the hairs on my arm stand up. Tony saw my face contort. "You don't trust him do you?" I shook my head. "There's something about that man," I said. "Like that press conference, the panic in his eyes" Tony frowned. " what do you mean?"

"Well once you were out of your mellow state and announced that you'd stop with the guns he jumped up and pushed you aside. " Tony raised his eyebrows. "Something is up with the guy" I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.

Tony was screwing something in the arm of his suit. "Alright, look into it" Tony looked up. "I know you have extra hands somewhere.

And that he notices...