(1) When We Collide (T. Stark)

Chapter Ten

In Spencer's hospital room monitors are beeping, a doctor and some nurses are surrounding Spencer, resuscitating her.

"All clear" Dean is huddling in the doorway, tears in his eyes.

"No" he whispers as Sam joins him.

"Still no pulse" A nurse states.

"Okay, let's go again, 360" the doctor counters.

"Charging" Sam is stood in the doorway, crying and fidgeting; Dean stares on at the scene. Spencer appears slowly behind him. She sees a ghostly figure floating over the body lying in the bed.

"You get the hell away from me" She runs to the bed and faces the thing down, yelling. "I said get back!" Sam blinks, looks confused, as if he's heard something. Spencer grabs for the spirit; she latches on momentarily before it hurls her back and then soars out of the room. The monitors slow, quiet.

"We have a pulse. We're back into sinus rhythm" A nurse announces. Spencer runs into the hallway, looking for the spirit; it's vanished. Dean sighs in relief and backs into the hallway, watching from there with Sam. Spencer comes back, stands by them.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I'm getting that thing before it gets me" she claims. "It's some kind of spirit, but I could grab it. And if I can grab it, I can kill it" she finishes with conviction. Sam looks over to where Spencer was, confused.

................

Tony sits on a bench outside of the hospital, Happy had gone off in the car to find some where to park and Tony doesn't know where that is. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and dials Pepper's number. And he waits for her to pick up the line and then starts talking before she can greet him.

"She's pregnant" Tony whispers down the phone to Pepper. "She's....my....hmm....tiny" he rambles almost incomprehensibly.

"Slow down" Pepper offers. "Take a few deep breaths" Tony breathes in and then out. "And start from the beginning....is Spencer okay?"

"No" Tony answers. "No, she's....hooked up to all these machines, Pepper, she's hooked up to all these machines..and they don't think she's going to wake up.....and she's pregnant"

"Where are you now?"

"Outside, I couldn't...I need to get out of here...."

"I'm going to bring up the one thing you made me promise not to when I started working for you" Pepper warns Tony. "Howard" Tony pulls a face. "Tony, you told me yourself that he was absent for all of your childhood and teenage years, and now you are threatening to do the same with your own child"

"I barely know the girl" Tony argues.

"The amount of women you've slept with I'm surprised this hasn't happened earlier" Pepper points out. "Now you are not your father, Tony" Pepper tells him. "And you like this girl...you like Spencer.....is this such a bad thing? Would it be such a terrible thing?" Tony looks to his shoes. "Tony...I've worked for you for a few years now and I've never seen you act the way you have these last few months, this is more then a fling......."

"A kid might ruin that" Tony admits. "I don't know how to...be that person...I don't know what to do with....with a..." he takes a breath.

"So you learn" Pepper argues. "You're a genius, you'll figure it out as you go......Tony if you walk away from them now....in ten, twenty, thirty years....you'll regret it" Tony scrubs a hand over his face. "You know you will and you'll hate yourself for turning into your father"

"Guess so" Tony grumbles.

"So you know what you need to do" Pepper tells him. "Now go and do it" she hangs up before he can argues more with her, he takes a breath and stands tucking his phone away. The rental car driven by Happy pulls up at the curb and his driver pokes his head out.