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

Chapter 61

"Look, I don't know if you and Peter go to the same meetings because he told me something completely different from you," Quentin said as soon as he entered the lab on Saturday morning.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked annoyed. Their time spent together happened to be surprisingly good.

"The boy is still hanging on Potts. And you should know that he's the only one who believes she has a new guy."

"It doesn't have to be a bad thing. How do you think he feels when no one believes him? It must have hurt him. That distrust. Poor little thing," Mary said regretfully, but a sly smile played on her face.

"Have you started giving him the serum yet? I don't know how long I will last among those teenagers," he moaned. At first, he didn't mind the role of a teacher, but it was starting to get on his neck.

"Not yet, but I'll start next time."

•••

"You know, when things get back to normal here, we could go somewhere. Just like we wanted to," Nat said, breaking the silence between them. But it was such a pleasant silence when you just enjoy the other's presence. Natasha sat on the bed and Bruce lay beside her with his head in her lap, reading while she whistled in his hair.

"And where would that be?" he asked, but he didn't take his eyes off the lines in the book.

"I don't know, wherever we want," she replied, taking the book from him so he could give her all his attention.

"Sounds good," he agreed with a smile.

"Can you promise me one thing, Bruce?"

"Anything," he said, looking at her with a question in his eyes. He noticed that she tensed slightly, so it must have been something serious.

"Promise me you won't show up in public if you can. I don't want Ross to notice you're back," she said. She knew about their past, and she certainly didn't want Ross to kidnap him and hide him somewhere. She would have to pay him a visit, and she was sure he wouldn't like what would follow.

"Peter demands your presence in the workshop, Dr. Banner," Friday interrupted.

"Well, if you say so," Bruce laughed, about to get up, but Natasha wouldn't let him.

"Promise me," she repeated.

"I promise," he said, rising this time. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and then went to the workshop. He knew very well how impatient Peter could be.

Natasha sat on the bed for a moment before deciding to check on Tony. They had dinner with Pepper today, and she hoped they could make it right between them. She was a little worried about the redhead. She seemed pretty exhausted.

"So how is it going? Nervous?" she asked as she leaned against the fur of his room door.

"You act like you don't know that I'm always nervous about Pepper," he muttered, adjusting his tie. He still had plenty of time, but he needed to stop by a flower shop for her favorite tulips. And the most beautiful ones were on the other side of New York. But she was worth it. She deserved only the best.

"It'll be fine," she assured him, pausing for a moment. "Did you talk to Peter?"

"Yeah, yesterday, and don't even want to know what he told me. I couldn't sleep from it in the evening. And for the first time, I'm glad Pepper isn't here, because if she heard what he said, I probably would never get her back."

"Is it that bad?"

"He's got chaos in his head and I don't know how to help him," he sighed.

"We should have a family lunch next week. Maybe on Sunday. You, Pepper, Peter, Bruce and I," she suggested. She was starting to lose her temper. So little was missing and she will go find Mary and deal with her.

"I will think about it. I will see how it develops tonight."

•••

Pepper watched her reflection in the mirror and was very terrified of herself. Four weeks of separation from her loved ones had a terrible effect on her. She was as pale as the white tiles behind her. Dark circles loomed beneath her eyes, and her cheekbones were too prominent. She looked like a ghost. She would have to get together before dinner, or Tony would be startled and run away.

Tony. The man who owned her heart. The man who gave her family. And maybe she could give him the same thing now. But she was ahead. She still had two minutes of not knowing ahead of her. It was quite possible that she was just stressed. Given the events of recent weeks, she wouldn't be surprised.

The cell phone beeped, which meant that the time was out and she would know if a new life was growing beneath her heart.