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

Chapter 57

Pepper pulled away from him, but not too far. She looked into his brown eyes, which she loved so much about him, and saw sparks of happiness in them. If she looked more closely, she might see in them a reflection of their own. It was almost perfect. Almost. The reminder that Peter was meeting Mary was still flashing in the back of her mind. That was the only thing holding her back at the moment. She was so stupid! If she hadn't left so quickly, her family might not have split up.

"Look at the mess. I have to clean it up and get to work if I don't want to sleep here again tonight," she sighed and looked at the table where the crumpled documents were lying. Salad edition, as she liked to scold Peter when he carried crumpled notebooks home. She couldn't present that anywhere. She was lucky that she had everything in electronic form and could print brand new and straight papers.

"Pep, honey, I think you should go home for a while. Take a shower, change clothes, and definitely have breakfast! It seems to me that you are somehow getting lost in front of my eyes," he said carefully.

"But there's so much work-"

"None of that. You know what? Happy take me here, so he can take you to your house, and in the meantime, I'll take care of everything that is needed."

Pepper gave him a hesitant look. "Tony, you know how I don't like it when someone interferes with my work," she said, and he laughed. He laughed sincerely from the heart. He had lived without her for too long, beginning to forget the facts, as she hated to death when someone chewed her on what she was doing. Or, as Nat reminded him yesterday, she never left a undone job. Even if it meant falling asleep in her office in an uncomfortable chair.

"Okay, okay. I promise I won't touch anything. I'll just sit here and write down all the things that will happen during your brief absence or that will require your attention," he suggested, and she gave him a loving expression.

She felt she had just fallen in love for a second time. Tony hated any work in an office and especially the paperwork. Even so, he was willing to stay. Because of her. A sudden surge of emotion surprised her, and she kissed him lightly on the lips. She couldn't control it.

"What about Saturday?" she blurted out with a smile. She was Pepper Potts and never gave up so easily. It was so stupid of her to start now. And in favor of the terrible woman. No, she will fight for her men.

"What about it?" Tony asked, confused. For a moment he was afraid he had been too carried away by Pepper kissing him for the second time and not grabbing anything she was saying.

"Would you have time for dinner on Saturday?" she specified.

"You know I always have time for you, love," he said, smiling back.

"So we are settled. I have to go now. We have a meeting at twelve, so I have to get back in time," she told him, rising from her chair, after which Tony imitated her and rose from the ground he was still kneeling on.

"Wait a minute," he almost shouted, grabbing her hand and pulled her into his arms. This time he was in charge and he made sure to put into the kiss all his feelings that he had kept for her for so many years.

It was like coming home.

•••

Natasha quickly created a new daily routine. In the morning, she went to Pepper's office to help, while she spent the afternoon close to Peter's school, where she used her full spying skills to watch the suspicious behavior. Unfortunately, she has not been able to trace anything yet.

Peter has been acting a little weird since Monday's incident. And no one blamed him for anything, he still insisted on what he saw. And if he believes it, it's hard for anyone to talk to him. Natasha was really interested in what exactly he saw when it wasn't Pepper. Tony was becoming more of himself, and she had a hunch that his relationship with Pepper was on a good way, which made her very happy. It was really time for both adults to start using the intelligence they had. But where something gets better, something goes wrong elsewhere. Peter worried her. He didn't know what to believe and refused to talk about it. Or talk about Pepper. And it broke Natasha even more than all the previous acts she had witnessed. She was beginning to worry that Peter's love for Pepper was fading and she couldn't let that happen.

It was on Thursday when she was finally lucky and all theories were confirmed. The brown-haired woman was waiting for Peter in front of the school, and when he joined her, they exchanged a quick hug for a welcome. The woman looked at him with a smile that Natasha could say it wasn't a real one.

As they walked away together, Natasha watched them. She thought more and more that she would return to her old way of life and twist Mary's neck.

•••

Tony sat on the couch in the living room, looking at the latest designs he'd wanted to check on his tablet before sending them to the manufacturing division. On the table lay his third cup of coffee, which was emptying very quickly, and he would have to get up in a moment and go to the kitchen for a new one, which he certainly didn't want. He went to practice with Nat in the morning, and now he was in pain. Maybe he didn't do as much exercise as he should. The main thing now was not to show any signs of pain in front of Natasha, otherwise, she would have laughed at him.

Thunder shook with his whole house, and he grabbed the tablet in a convulsive grip to keep it from falling to the ground and breaking. Tony sat in silence for a moment, ready to activate his suit in a second, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Stark!" came a man's voice from the balcony door.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief and laid the tablet on the couch before walking to the balcony, where he was walking across from Thor. And he was not alone. "Am I hallucinating?!" he asked in surprise.

"I've found our lost friend!" Thor announced proudly, and Tony didn't hesitate for a second longer and gripped the man who was like a brother to him in a tight embrace.

Maybe everything really started to come back for the better.

•••
Who was with Thor?