The Devil With The Face of an Angel | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 45

Peter kicked the sneakers off his feet and tossed the backpack on the floor. It was finally Friday, and he was looking forward to the free weekend which was waiting for him. The school had been too exhausting for him in recent days because he had no energy or a place for school in his head. His thoughts, as we know, were full of Pepper.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He heard his father's voice in the living room, and his heart started beating faster. It would be possible that... No, he could not give himself false hopes. So he quickly ran to the living room, where his forehead wrinkled at the sight of his father embracing a blond woman.

"Uhm, dad?" he drew attention to himself.

"Peter! You're finally home, look who honored us with her visit," he said with a smile that Peter hadn't seen much on him in recent days.

Peter looked at the unknown woman, who was sitting with her back to him. However, when she turned to face him, he almost cried with happiness. "Aunt Nat!" he shouted in surprise, and it took him barely a few seconds to hold her tightly in his arms.

"I'm glad to see you too. I missed you so much!" Natasha said with a smile on her face and returned the hug. She wasn't letting him go any time soon.

"I missed you too! Where have you been? What have you been doing all the time? Wait, can you be here at all? What if someone saw you?" he muttered one sentence after another and pulled away from her a little, but still stayed in her arms. At least something felt like in the old days.

"Still talkative, aren't you?" she chuckled. "So thing by thing. I was with Steve for a while, but then I couldn't stand him anymore, so I ended up in Russia. But then I got a message from Tony and I had to come. Ross could easily hold the knife to my throat and even then he wouldn't stop me from seeing you," she answered all his questions.

"So you already know Mom left us?" he muttered dejectedly and her heart was cracking dangerously.

"I know it's hard, Pete, but she's so scared," she said as gently as she could, then turned her gaze to Tony, who was still sitting on the couch next to her. "What kind of woman did you date?! It must be a pretty fury when Pepper is so shaken by this. I've known her for a long time and I can tell you that I've never seen her in such a state."

"Wait, did you see her?" Tony snapped in surprise, and Peter, too, focused on her statement.

"I visited her first. I had to make sure she was okay after you wrote to me. This is not like her at all. It's not the Pepper Potts I know," she sighed. When Tony wrote to her what had happened, she couldn't bring herself to believe it. But now it was slightly scaring her. Maybe she'll look at Mary's little tooth. Playing like this with her family! Who does she think she is?

"How is she?" Peter asked almost inaudibly. He had no news of her.

"She's worried. Just like you," Nat replied truthfully. This situation was perhaps more heartbreaking than the breakup of the team.

"Are you going to go back to Russia?" Tony changed the subject. They couldn't talk about it over and over again. It never added much light to their mood either. Pepper promised to think about it, and he believed she would return. She had to. If she doesn't come back, they just move to Malibu to her.

"I was actually thinking about staying here for a while. After all, home is home," she told him about her plans, and a wrinkle appeared on Tony's forehead.

"That's dangerously gambling, Nat. You know that very well, "Tony warned her. He didn't tell her to run away just for fun. "Ross is still squeezing my neck and I'm a long way from your pardon."

"I know, but I can take care of myself."

"If it's because of us, you don't have to worry about us," said Peter, who also figured out the reason for Natasha's decision to stay.

"I'm staying, and you two can't do anything about it," she insisted.

•••

"You should have good news for me, Quentin. I'm getting impatient," Mary said firmly instead of greeting as he walked into her office.

"Look, the boy just won't open up to anyone. And whose merit is it? Your. So please don't press on me. But I'm sure you'll be pleased that Potts has probably left town. It is not 100% certain, but she sold her apartment," he informed her and sat down on a chair.

"Poor girl, but she had to expect it. We have our dear Pepper out of the way and we must use that. I'll have to turn our whole plan upside down, but it will work. The most important right now is - we must make sure that she does not return. That's a key part of our new plan, okay? She can't come back at any cost," she said, and Quentin could see rotating wheels in her head. It was quite admirable how she managed to get the most out of every situation and turn it in her favor.

"What do you mean by that? What if she decides to return? Will you just make sure she disappeared?"

"Of course. I am not afraid to take extreme measures if it is unavoidable. I can convince them that I'm sorry for what I caused. But only as long as she is out of the way," she explained.

"Tell me, don't you really feel anything for them? I don't care at all, but that kid is your son," Quentin said. He had never known a person who was emotionless.

"Well, he was pretty cute as a baby, but it's been a long time ago, and I let it go a few months after Tony exposed me and broke up with me," she replied honestly, but it was obvious how indifferent she was.

"Okay, so how do you want to do it all?"

"We don't have to deal with this until we get closer to him. This is our only chance. We have to be in his close circle."

"Easy. Well, at least for me, you are the one he hates," he grinned, and Mary snorted.

"You are so unbearable. Just wait, he will be happy to accept his beloved mother. I'll take care of it. And if you'll excuse me now, I have to go see Richard to see how he's doing with the preparation of the serum we'll need when we get close to him," she said, leaving him in her office without another word.

•••

We're halfway through the story! What are you thinking so far?