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

Chapter 52

It was strange and pleasant to sit in her office again. When she tried to displace all the events of the last few weeks, it almost felt as if nothing had changed; as if her normal working day was going on, and she would return home to Peter and Tony in the evening. But now she was going to return to an apartment she couldn't call home because the two of them weren't there. And without them, there was an unpleasant emptiness and deafening silence.

There was a small white envelope on the table with her name written on it. She sat down at the table and looked around carefully at first. The photos were in the same place. She smiled. She missed this, though it hurt so much to look at their happy faces, which were forever captured in every single photograph. As an assurance, it wasn't just a wonderful dream.

After a moment, tearing her eyes away from the photos, she reached for the white envelope, which she carefully opened. There was a short message waiting for her and a photo of a sleeping Peter lying huddled under a blanket on a sofa in the living room. Her heart sank as she looked at his innocent face, and she felt an incredible urge to hug the little defenseless boy. Although she sighed, he was no longer so small and defenseless. He doesn't need her anymore.

She carefully set the photo aside and opened the folded paper with trembling fingers. Message from Tony. She would recognize his writing always and everywhere.

My dear Miss Potts,
if you are reading these lines, I was probably right as always and you came back. If not, I'll have to come up with something else. Damn it.

I welcome you back with great pleasure. To brighten up your day, I am adding a photo of our incredibly cute and kind son - well, he is like that when he sleeps. (Yes, I found out he sent you a picture of me sleeping, so this is revenge against him.)

I hope a smile conjured up on your face because when you smile, you are even more beautiful than usual. Perhaps these lines pleased you and also softened you a bit because I would very much like to invite you to dinner. You wouldn't dump me, right?

With love,

Your devoted TS

Pepper couldn't help herself. She smiled really wide as she read and was not far from crying. When she reached the end, she felt tears sting her eyes. She reached for her handkerchief and wiped it just in time as the door opened and Anthony Stark stepped inside. He beamed when he saw Pepper.

"Can't you knock, Mr. Stark?" she asked instead of a greeting, smoothing her face into a stern mask. Tony paused and examined her carefully. The corners of his lips twitched.

"So we're at the last name again? Ah, I actually started it," he remembered, and Pepper had to hold on to keep herself from chuckling. How much she missed this! But now everything will be even harder for her. To have both so close and at the same time so far...

"Do you need anything, or did you just come to wish me good luck? I'm sure there's a lot of work ahead of me and I don't want to sit here until midnight," Pepper said, looking at Tony questioningly. He just watched her as if he had seen her for the first time in his life. She sighed and stood up to pull the folders out of the closet, but Tony took her hand. She looked into his hopeful eyes and her heart sank.

"I need you," he replied in a whisper, pulling her closer. She didn't resist; she probably wouldn't try, even if she wanted to. His closeness and scent got to her on knees, and she began to realize that she was losing her breath. It felt the same as when they started dating, and every touch, look or smile completely deprived her of the ability to speak.

And I need you, she wanted to answer him, but something wouldn't let her. Something named Mary. She preferred to close her eyes and then felt Tony lean his forehead against hers and kiss her on the corner of her mouth.

"Being without you is suffering, Pep. And knowing you're here and not being able to touch you is even worse. Please. Come with me to dinner," he asked her, pressing his lips gently against hers. She couldn't resist him and almost immediately came out to meet him. With her fingertips, she stroked his unshaven face, and he hugged her even tighter. Tears welled up in Pepper's eyes, and as she sobbed softly, Tony pulled away in alarm. "Pep! Did I do something wrong?"

"N-no," she whispered almost inaudibly. "It's me. I can't do it, Tony."

"What can't you do, darling?" he asked gently, pulling her into his arms. Pepper leaned gratefully against him and took a deep breath of his scent, which had always been soothing.

"Everything is so hard."

•••

"So how was the family lunch?" Quentin grinned, and Mary began to wonder why she was still talking to this guy.

"Actually, it was quite boring. Peter said about ten sentences, so I don't understand why he called me at all when he obviously didn't want to see me."

"It is his conscience. He feels he has to repay you or something when you saved Romanov," Beck said, and she had to admit he was probably right. "At least he was the one who took the first step, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but I don't want to push him. He is shy like a little fawn. One wrong move and I can say goodbye to the whole plan," she sighed, rubbing her temples. It was exhausting. But she had to be patient. Then she would get the desired reward.

"Potts is probably back."

Mary frowned. "Yes."

"Are you going to do something about it?"

"Of course, I won't watch her get to them again. Not when I've come this far. I'm sure he's still a little doubtful, so I have to come up with another step. But she surprised me a little. She came back quite soon."

Quentin chuckled. "You finally found a real rival, didn't you?"

Mary smiled devilishly. "Pepper is a woman who doesn't have nature to just give up. Even if she loses hope, even when she is at the bottom and even though she has stopped believing, she always finds the strength to stand up and fight. I'm going to enjoy this..."