Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

FEBUARY 27, 2010, 10:34 PM — PEPPER POTTS APARTMENT, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

Pepper Potts stared at the blue and white stick in her hand, completely terrified.

Two red lines.

This was number seven. The seventh test she had taken. The seventh test to come out positive. The seventh test confirming that she was, in fact, pregnant.

She, Pepper Potts, was really pregnant.

Shit.

She looked down at her stomach. It was still flat — she didn’t know why she had expected to suddenly be heavily pregnant, despite having only just found out for real, because obviously she wasn’t.  She couldn’t be more than two months into this... pregnancy.

God, she was actually fucking pregnant.

Shit.

Pepper felt tears coming into her eyes, and buried her head in her hands. She was pregnant.

Kids had never been a part of her plan. She had wanted them, once upon a time, but as time wore on she found that she just didn’t have enough time — she didn’t have time to meet a guy and settle down, let alone have kids.

Her job was demanding — Tony was demanding. He was reckless and overworking, and her job as his personal assistant was basically just to keep him alive. To stop him from drinking too much and accidentally killing himself, or from getting brutally murdered by an angry board of directors if he was late to another meeting, or attacked by some girl that she had escorted out of his mansion for forgetting her.

That was different now, though, because Tony had been missing for a week.

Shit, Tony was missing.

Rhodey had come back without him, and now she didn’t technically have a job, and she really, really hated shadowing Obadiah Stane, because he was probably the creepiest person she knew.

She was pregnant. Tony was missing. She was Pregnant. Tony was missing.

Pepper couldn’t make sense of it; all cohesive thoughts muddling into something very close to a complete breakdown as she sobbed into her hands. She was pregnant. Tony was missing.

She already knew that she was going through with this. She had known the moment she even suspected that she was pregnant that she was going to keep this clump of cells. Going to have a baby — because even though she had never planned on having kids, she had felt a spark of happiness on the third morning of violent (what she now knew was) morning sickness that just made her feel like this, having this kid, was right.

Plus, this kid might be all that was left of Tony Stark.

Their night together had been... a mistake. A huge, gigantic, massive mistake. Tony was extremely drunk, and the more drunk he got, the more flirty he got. She had been pretty drunk herself, and had given in to his charm. She hadn’t meant to let it happen — it was unprofessional, and weird, and god it was embarrassing that she had hidden feelings for her boss — but it happened. It had been new year’s eve. The ‘kiss at midnight’ tradition had led to more, and here she was. 

Here, pregnant with the child of Tony Stark, her missing, possibly dead, boss.

What she wouldn’t give to be able to talk to him right now. Not even to tell him about... all of this. Just to talk to him — because, ignoring their little incident last month (they both had been mutually agreeing not to talk about it), and the fact that she worked for him, they were friends. Good friends. And she would be lying if she said she didn’t miss him.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t terrified that Rhodey wouldn’t find him. She would be lying if she said some part of her didn’t truly believe he could find his way home.

She would also be lying if she said she hadn’t... felt something — that night. New Years.

The night of her child’s conception.

Oh god.

She was actually pregnant. She was pregnant because she slept with her boss. Her boss was missing. She was pregnant, and the reason she was pregnant was because she had sex with her now missing boss.

Shit.

Pepper found herself holding her abdomen desperately, trying to protect the child that wasn’t even there yet as she continued to weep. And then she laughed — because she had always thought that when women in movies and books held their flat stomach when they found out they were pregnant was an exaggeration; a stereotype... and yet, here she was, doing the same damn thing.

And, on top of that, she was spiralling. She was pregnant, and she was pregnant because she slept with her boss, and her boss had been missing for a week, and Rhodey didn’t have any leads, and she just kept getting stuck in a loop.

She needed to call May.

Sitting straight upright abruptly, Pepper wipes her tears away. She needed to call may — one coherent, cohesive though within the mess that her brain was right now.

If she was a lesser woman, she would blame the mush that her head had turned to completely on hormones. But she wasn’t, so she would admit that she was completely and utterly terrified.

But she needed to call May, and so she did. She reached across from the toilet she was sitting on, and grabbed her phone, quickly dialling May. 

“May Parker speaking!” Mays voice came across the line, and Pepper sobbed in relief. May. Tony’s older sister — the person who understood him the most. The person who would know what to do.

“May?” She whispered hoarsely. “This — this is Pepper.”

“Pep? What’s wrong?” May asked, the worry evident in her voice. “Are you crying? What happen — what else happened?”

“May, I’m — I’m pregnant.” Pepper gasped the last word out, letting the tears engulf her.

Hormones. Whatever.

May gasped in surprise, letting out a soft laugh. “That’s amazing, sweetie!” She said, ever the supportive older sister type. “Why are you crying though? It’s okay — you can tell me!”

“It’s — Tony’s... I’m Pregnant — and it’s — Tony’s.” Pepper could barely get the words out, as she was wracked with another wave of sobs.

“You and Tony, huh? I’ll be completely honest, I saw that one coming — why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“We aren’t — we weren’t... together. This wasn’t — wasn’t meant to happen.”

“Oh.” May sounded very empathetic — she had always been good at the feelings thing; despite being the girl, and therefore not smart enough or ‘man’ enough to be the heir to Stark Industries, in Howard’s eyes, she had been his favourite; he actually spent time with her, and talked to her, and just genuinely seemed to like her... and that must’ve helped her grow some sort of emotional knowledge, because she was great at emotion. “Oh, sweetie. Honey, it’s okay. You don’t need to worry. It’s okay, everything will be fine. I’ll — i’ll book you an ultrasound, okay? We can sort everything out. And i’ll come to the ultrasound with you, i’ll even drag Ben along, alright? it’s gonna be okay.”

“It’s gonna be okay.” Pepper echoed the older woman. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“I promise you, Pep. It’ll be okay, alright? Ultrasounds... how does monday sound, hey? First of March? Gives you a couple days to think things through?” The words ‘gives Tony a couple more days to come home’ go unsaid.

“Yeah. Yeah, Monday. Can — can you pick me up?”

“Of course I will, Pep. I’m here for you.”

“Thanks May.” Pepper whispered the words as she ended the call, tracing circles on her stomach slowly.

May was right. May was always right about everything, so why would she be wrong about this? She wouldn’t be. May Parker was correct:

Everything would be okay.

MARCH 01, 2010, 11:15 AM — OB-GYN, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

“This might feel cold when it touches your skin, and you’ll feel some pressure where it touches you, okay?” Doctor Arnolds said calmly, holding the transducer above Peppers bare stomach.

Pepper nodded, holding onto Mays hand tightly. May was sitting in a chair next to her, tears freely rolling down her cheeks — they had been since she picked Pepper up that morning. Pepper, luckily, had managed to keep some dignity, trying to opt her professional, ‘Pepper Potts, PA’ persona for the appointment.

The doctor let the blue part of the device come into contact with Peppers abdomen, and she get the tiny bit of pressure from it, as well as the coolness of the gel. It was a strange sensation, as the doctor looked at the screen in front of him. He tilted it slightly, so that Pepper and May could see the blurred black and white image of what must be a baby.

Arnolds smiles at them. “That is the baby’s head. They’re starting to develop lips and eyelids.” He shifted the transducer slightly, and the image shook. “Would you like to hear them?”

Large tears rolled down Peppers cheeks, and she clamped her free hand over her mouth. That was her baby, on that screen. That was her child. She nodded tearily.

The soft beating of a heart filled the room, and Pepper was transfixed. The soft sound seemed to envelop her, echoing around the room. “Holy shit.” She whispered. That was her baby. Her very alive baby, who had a heartbeat, and lips, and eyelids.

She didn’t notice Doctor Arnolds frown until a second too late, and she stared at him in terror when she did. “Is everything okay, Doctor?” She asked, her voice slightly muffled by her hand.

His glance flickered to her momentarily, and he gave a small smile. “Everything is fine, Miss Potts.” He moves the device again, the cold sensation surprising Pepper slightly. The underdeveloped baby moved out of view for a second, before it reappeared.

It was upside down now.

“Did it move?” May asked softly, raising an eyebrow at the screen in a way that reminded Pepper so terribly of Tony that she let out a soft sob. “How did they move?”

“They did not move, Miss Parker —“

“—Just May —“

“Okay, just May.” Arnolds gave May a look, before turning back to Pepper. “They did not move. They are twins.”

Peppers world froze around her as she heard the word. Twins. Child, multiple. Children.

She wasn’t having her missing bosses child. She was having her missing bosses children. She was having twins.

“I’m sorry, what?” Pepper exclaimed, before May could utter a word. She surprised herself with the strength in her voice.

“You’re having twins. There’s one right here, and the other is... here. They both have nice strong heartbeats, and everything is looking good and well. Congratulations!”

“Twins.” Pepper murmured, astounded. It was easy to lay down the facts: twins, existing because of Tony Starks genetic material, while the man himself was somewhere unknown in Afganistan... but actually wrapping her head around the notion was not easy. It was the complete opposite, and no matter how many times she repeated the words in her head, they still didn’t seem to make sense.

Tony Stark is missing, she slept with him, and was now pregnant with twins who shared fifty percent of his DNA.

Tony Stark is missing, she slept with him, and was now pregnant with twins who shared fifty percent of his DNA.

Tony Stark is missing, she slept with him, and was now pregnant with twins who shared fifty percent of his DNA.

It still didn’t make sense.

“Twins.” May echoed, her voice even softer than Peppers. May squeezed her hand tightly, offering a bright, teary smile. “You’re having twins, Pep!”

“I’m having twins!” She repeated one last time, looking across at May happily. “I, Pepper Potts, am having twins.”

MAY 31, 2010, 12:47 PM — EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA.

Pepper bit her bottom lip as Tony started walking off the military aircraft, leaning heavily on Rhodey. He waved off the stretcher that was being rolled over to him, and let go of Rhodey. He only stopped walking forward when he was right in front of her.

There he was. The man she had been wishing to see for three months. The man that fathered her unborn children. He looked like absolute shit — he was pale, he had unsuccessfully attempted to tame his hair, he had a dark bruise on his cheek, and his right arm was in a sling — but he was there. When she found out, and rushed with Happy and May to the Airstrip, she hadn’t been able to stop her overjoyed tears, be it from hormones or just her genuine relief that Tony was back.

Tony sniffed, seemingly assessing her.

Pepper had been hiding her pregnancy from everyone but May and her husband Ben

She couldn’t tell Obie, because she’d seen his reaction with previous paternity cases and did not want to be subjected to that, she hadn’t told Rhodey, because he was notoriously bad at keeping calm with big situations, Happy would’ve told Tony the second he returned without giving Pepper the opportunity to explain by herself, and there wasn’t exactly anyone else to tell.  Plus, she knew Tony’s views on children and media exposure. If he decided to be an active part of her kids lives (and she had faith in him), then she knew that he wouldn’t want other people to know.

“Your eyes are red.” Tony finally said, apparently not taking notice of the very well hidden baby bump (Thank you so much, May). “Few tears for your long lost boss?”

Pepper had to stop herself from flinching when he said boss, reminding her of just how unprofessional the situation she was in was. She almost sassed him with something about hormones, but had to stop herself. There were people everywhere; she could tell him another time, when no one was around.

“Tears of joy.” She ended up saying — and oh how true that was. “I hate job hunting.”

“Yeah, well, vacations over—”

“Give me a fucking hug you asshole!” May exclaimed, pushing forward to engulf her younger brother. “You scare me like that again, Tony, and I swear to got, I will tear your house apart bit by bit. I will personally dismantle DUM-E, and U, and Butterfingers, and throw their motherboards into a fire. You, Anthony Edward Stark, are a fucking dickhead.”

Most of Mays little outburst was muffled in Tony’s shoulder as she hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, and Pepper could see the little sigh of relief that he let out.

“Love you too, May.” He said sarcastically, still hugging her. “I missed you so fucking much — despite you calling me Anthony Edward Stark, Maybelle Margaret Stark. ”

They finally parted, and May punched him on his left shoulder — the one not in a sling. “Fucking missed you too, little bro. Super sick of house sitting. Also, it’s Parker now, you little punk — has been for years, and you fucking know it. ”

“Don’t worry, you and Ben can be in your happy little Queens bubble whenever you wanna be now — Maybelle Margaret Parker.” Tony teased.

“Yeah, well, you have to clean your pool all by yourself now, Anthony Edward Stark, sooo…” She flipped him off, and Tony laughed.

“Hey, well, at least you’re named after Aunt Peggy, and not stupid old great Uncle Edward.” Tony scoffed.

“Cant argue on that one.” May muttered. “God, he was worse than you, idiot.”

Tony and May were completely different, and yet inseparable. Pepper assumed that was a sibling thing... although, they had been raised very differently. May, while getting their fathers attention and love, was never intended to be the future of Stark Industries. May was fine with that, instead having gone on to become a surgeon, but it just went to prove that Howard Stark was a shitty dad either way. May hadn’t been allowed to skip grades, despite her intellect, or to become CEO or majority share holder. The media actually tended to forget about her.

Tony, on the other hand, had gotten the cold shoulder from his father, being thrown into the world of academics, graduating high school at fourteen, finishing MIT summa cum laude at seventeen, and becoming CEO of Stark Industries at twenty one, despite his sister being levelheaded, twenty five, and already having graduated from med school at the time.

May was forgotten by the media, Tony was basically stalked. May was loved by their dad, Tony wasn’t. May decided to get married and settle down, Tony was... still acting like a young idiot (and she was pregnant with twins that shared half of his DNA, but he didn’t know that.)

The thing that they shared, that truly solidified their bond, was Maria Stark. Their mom. Their too good for this world, amazing at piano, Italian extraordinaire, amazing mom.

“You coming with, May?” Tony asked.

“Nope.” May said, giving him a pat on the back. “I will be at your stupid ass, gigantic, impossible to cook in house.”

“That’s just you not being able to cook.” Tony said, turning around.

“You can’t cook either!” May yelled back, making him roll his eyes.

“Right, Happy, Pepper, we need to go.” Tony stepped toward the car, and they all got into it.

“Where to, sir?” Happy asked from the front seat. 

Pepper put on her seatbelt, and placed her large bag on her lap — ah the tricks of hiding a pregnancy. “Take us to the hospital, please, Happy.”

“No.”

“No?” She stared at Tony like he was crazy. “Tony—“

“No is a complete answer.”

“—you have to go to the hospital —“

“I don’t have to do anything.”

“—The doctor has to look at you!”

“I’ve been in captivity for three months,” Tony raised his voice slightly. “There are two things I want to do. I want an American Cheeseburger, and the other...”

He was looking at her in that way — like he had on new years. Eyes filled with longing and desperation and love and hope.

She rolled her eyes slightly, trying to think of anything but her overwhelming feeling, and stop her hormones from taking over. “That’s enough of that.”

“Is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference, now.”

“Call for a press conference? What on earth for?”

“Hogan, drive.” Tony cut over her, looking at Happy. “Cheeseburger first.”

JUNE 03, 2010, 10:47 M — TONY STARKS MANSION, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

Everyone was all over Tony right now. And Stark Industries. Tony shut down the weapons division, and now people were making a mockery of them.

Someone had even gone as far as to file an injunction against Tony.

He was hiding in the lab, doing... whatever it was that he did down there. She couldn’t hear the sound of his loud music, though, which was slightly concerning. Tony never worked in silence.

Pepper flinched as the guy on the video she was wavy hong hit a mug with a bat, sending smashed pieces of it flying everywhere.

“Pepper! Uh, how big are your hands?” Tony’s voice came across the intercom, and she quickly muted the video playing, which was basically just a guy smashing the shit out of stuff to make fun of SI.

“What?”

“How big are your hands?” He repeated.

“I... I don’t understand, why—“ She began, but Tony cut her off.

“Get down here, I need you.”

Pepper sighed, putting her laptop down on the coffee table, trying not to think about the fact that the white couch right across from her was where the incident happened. She couldn’t think about that. He was her boss, and she couldn’t think like that.

She paused at the top of the stairs, looking down at her pretty obviously swollen belly. She was five months along; the only way she could hide her bump was big jackets, bags that covered her obvious bump, and carrying stuff in front of her. Flowy shirts tended to work as well. But all she had was her comfortable clothes. No big jacket, or bag, or anything to carry. Leaving the fact that she was pregnant for all to see.

Today, she was going to have to face the music. She would have to tell Tony.

She went down to the workshop as quickly as she could, and typed in the three numbers of the password so that she could enter.

“Hey.” Tony said, his voice softer than usual. He was lying on a gurney in the middle of the workshop, chest bare, with a heart monitor beeping next to him. “Let’s see em. Show me your hands. See em.”

Pepper held her hands up, admittedly confused, as she walked towards him. Tony’s eyes, weather it was a good thing or a bad thing, didn’t stray down to her baby bump.

“Oh wow, they are small. Very petite. Indeed.” He sighed deeply. “I just need your help for a sec.”

He was holding something small, round and glowing, and the metal thing in his chest was on full view. Tony had told her about it, and said it was a miniaturised arc reactor, like the one at the factory. But unlike Rhodey and Obie, she hadn’t seen it. Pepper felt tears come to her eyes, but blinked them away.

“Oh my god, is that the thing keeping you alive?” She stared at the metal circle, fighting back the wave of nausea that threatened to hit her — god, morning sickness was shit, and this was not helping.

“It was. It is now an antique. This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future, I was swapping it out for an upgraded unit, and I just ran into a little... speed bump.”

“What speed bump? What do you — what does that mean?” She asked in horror.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just a little snag.” He assured, looking at the new unit with something akin to nervousness on his face. This was serious, then — Tony Stark didn’t get nervous. He twisted the thing in his chest, and the glowing part became visible.  “There’s an exposed wire under this device, and it’s contacting the socket wall.” He yanked it out, and passed it to her. “And it’s causing a little bit of a shortage. It’s — fine.”

“Wh—wha— what do you want me to do.” She scrunched her face up at the device in her hands.

“Put that on the table over there, that is irrelevant.”

“Oh my god...”

“I just want you to reach in, and you’re just gonna gently reach the wire out...” He breathed out heavily.

“Is it safe?” Pepper asked, looking between Tony and the hole in his chest.

“Yeah, it should be fine. It’s just like operation, just don’t let it touch —“ He waved his hand around the circle of the hole. “The socket wall, or it goes beep.”

“What’s operation? What do you mean, operation?”

“It’s just a game, never mind. Just gently lift the wire...”

“Okay...” Pepper was completely aware that her voice was shaking as her hand hovered over the hole in Tony’s chest.

“Okay? Great.”

She moved her hand closer, then pulled away with a wince. “You know, I — I don’t think i’m qualified to do this!”

“Noo, you’re fine...”

“I can — I — I can call May, she a surgeon, and —“

“You are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person i’ve ever met. You’re gonna do great — plus, Mays off in Parker Paradise with Ben.” Tony stopped her nervous ramble, and looked her right in the eyes. It was that look again. The one from that night, and from the car on the way to the press conference. The look that told Pepper that maybe — just maybe — they had the chance at more. “Is it too much of a problem to ask? cause i’m, i’m—“

“Okay, okay.”

“— I really need your help here. Okay.”

Tony closed his eyes, and Pepper took a deep breath, putting her hand into the socket. “Oh my god — oh — oh there’s puss —“

“It’s not puss, it’s a plastic discharge — it’s from the device, not from my body.”

Pepper gagged, once again trying not to be sick all over him. “It smells—“

“Yeah it does. The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?”

“Okay, I got it, I got it.”

“You got it? Okay now don’t it torch the si-“ There’s was a loud buzzing noise, and Tonys eyes widened. “-ides, ides. When you’re coming up. That’s what I was trying to say before.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She rushed though the words, scrunching up her face still. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Okay, now make sure when you’re pulling it out that you don’t pull out — there’s a magnet at the end on it...” Pepper yanked the whole thing out, and Tony’s body lurched forward slightly. The heart monitors started going crazy. “That was it. You’ve just pulled out —“

“— Oh god —“

“Okay, I was not expecting — don’t put it back in! Don’t put it back in!”

Pepper grimaces at the copper thing she was holding, and put it back on the table with the other arc reactor. Tony breathed in shakily. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing, i’m just going into cardiac arrest, because you yanked it out—“

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

“What? You said this was safe!”

“We gotta hurry. Take this, take this, we gotta switch it out really quick.” He handed her the replacement reactor.

“Okay, okay — Tony?”

“What?”

“It’s gonna be okay...”

“Is it?”

“It’s gonna be okay. I — i’m gonna make this okay.”

“Well that’s... Okay, you’re gonna attach that — to the base plate...” Pepper started to put the new device into the hole. “And make s-s-sure, you— yaaaa — ow.”

Pepper attached it, and it made a loud click sound. Tony’s eyes flew open, as the monitors calmed down. She started trying to twist the device closed again. “Was that so hard? That was fine, right? — here, I got it, I got it, here.” He closed it up himself, and smiled at her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah I feel great.” Tony started laughing, and she glared at him. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t ever. Ever, ever, ever ask me don’t do anything like that, ever again.” She winced as she looked at her wet hands — god, they had been inside of his chest.

The look covered Tony’s face again. “I — I don’t have anyone, but you.” He half smiled, and she stared back in shock. “I mean, I have May and Rhodey, but—“

She cut him off by holding up a finger, saying ‘give me a second’, as she grabbed the trash can that was very conveniently next to her, and finally gave into the nausea, vomiting into it violently.

Tony took the things attaching him to the monitors off, and stood up. “Oh, are you—“ 

“I’ve fine.” Pepper muttered, standing back up as well, and grabbing the old reactor. “What do you want me to do with this?”

“That? Destroy it. Incinerate it.” He tapped the new one in his chest twice.

She stepped closer to him, holding it between them as a last ditch attempt to hide her belly — it was probably pointless. If he hadn’t noticed by now, he probably wouldn’t at all. “You don’t wanna keep it?”

“Pepper, i’ve been called many things, nostalgic is not one of them.”

She frowned, and looked up from the device to his eyes. “Well, maybe it should be.”

Tony blinked, and raised one of his eyebrows, face a mixture of surprise and confusion. Pepper dropped her hands to her side. There wasn’t any point hiding it.

She had come to her decision — she was telling him, right here, right now.

“I’m pregnant.”

Tony blinked again, and his eyes flew down to her stomach, realising how big it was for the first time. She shrugged. “I’m almost twenty-three weeks. Five-ish months. I’m due on August fourteenth.”

“Five... five months?” Tony said slowly, still staring at her large belly. “You’re five months pregnant?”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re — it’s — they are? So — big.” He stumbled over his words, eyes flickering to hers nervously. He had undoubtedly come to the same conclusion as her — that she was pregnant with his children.

“Twins.” She explained, fiddling with the arc reactor nervously. “That’s why they’re due earlier. Otherwise I would be due in September, but...”

“Twins.” He echoed. He leant back on the gurney, his face paling. “Is this because of —“

“New years?” Pepper offered. He swallowed, looking up at her with the look, nervousness mixed in with it, and nodded. “As far as I can tell, yes. I don’t exactly have sex often, and the dates match up. Doctor Arnolds said that the date of conception would have been between the twenty-ninth and the second.”

Tony flinched slightly when she said sex, but continued to stare at her in shock. “Holy shit.” He murmured. “Holy shit! You’re — you’re pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“Because of what happened on new years?”

“Its the only plausible answer.”

“Holy shit.”

She looked down at him empathetically, giving him a sad smile. “Its okay if you don’t want to..  be a part of this, but—“

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He cut over her. His face was pale, and his hands were shaking slightly. “Before I left, why didn’t you say anything? You were already starting to be sick, I remember. Why didn’t you tell me then?”

Pepper winced at his words, but she could tell that he was just trying to make sense of it — she had gone through the exact same thing — but she felt tears begin to roll down her cheeks anyway. Stupid hormones. “I didn’t know. I didn’t take the test until a week — a week after — after you left.”

“Oh, shit, um—“ He moved toward her as she started openly crying, wrapping an arm around her instinctively. “Im sorry, I didn’t mean — im just—“

“Confused, I know.” She said, between sniffles. “Don't mind — don’t mind me. I cried at a car commercial yesterday.”

He gave a short breathy laugh, and Pepper noticed just how close together they were. She blinked, and looked him in the eyes, a strange feeling of longing filling her.

They both began to lean together, closer to one another — just like they had on that night — and Pepper suddenly became aware of lips touching hers.

Tonys lips.

She and Tony were kissing.

Again. Shit.

The kiss was soft, and surprisingly loving.

Flustered, Pepper stepped away, looking at Tony in surprise.

“I — uh… tell me you don’t ever think about that night?” He said, looking at her with his eyes filled with hope. Hope, and love.

“New Years?” She asked, and he nodded. “Yes, I think about new years — the night that my kids were conceived.”

“Not.. I mean — about how it felt… right? Could you feel it too?”

Pepper sighed. She wasn’t sure why, but even though he now knew that she was pregnant with their children, she just wanted to deny her feelings for him more. “New Years was a mistake, Tony—”

“It didn’t feel like a mistake, though!” He reasoned. Despair was joining the love and hope in his overly expressive eyes, and he took one of her hands — the one not holding the device. “This doesn’t feel like a mistake. I —”

“So you want to be part of their lives? You’re gonna be their father?” She asked. The truth was that she had felt it — and the kiss hadn’t felt like a mistake. It felt right. Tony felt right.

For some reason, she couldn’t seem to admit that.

“Yes!” Tony exclaimed. “For them, for you, whatever, I just — I need you, Pep. You just — Okay, look, Im a lot less good at this than May, but I — I just want to be with you, with them…”

This time, it was Pepper cutting him off — and it was with another kiss, rather than words. A passionate, deep, loving kiss.

“How’d you hide it, anyway?” Tony asked, when they finally pulled apart.

Pepper smirked. “You have your sister to thank for that. Lots of tricks. Lots of very flows blouses. I am so sick of being pregnant.”

“So no-one knows?”

“Just May and Ben.” She confirmed. “I don’t really fancy becoming known as the assistant that you knocked up.”

Tony laughed softly, and looked at her. “I think we should stick with not telling people. I don’t exactly have the most stable life — plus, Afghanistan just proves that people wanna get rid of me. I don't want anyone targeting them — or you.”

“I think we should too. Too dangerous.” Pepper smiled at him. “And, thank you, Tony. For being a part if this. I know you have daddy issues—“

“Don’t call them Daddy issues. Rhodey does that, and its gross.”

“—issues with your father, but I believe in you. We can do this.”

“We can do this.” Tony echoed with a soft smile on his face. “Also, I’m gonna go over and see Rhodey at the base in a bit, do you need anything? Ice cream? Shrimp? I don’t know what you’re craving?”

“Im good.” She said, before lifting the old reactor that she was still holding, and pointing towards the door. “Im gonna go — yeah. I’ll see you later.”

“Alright — oh, and Pepper?”

She turned on her way out, looking at him with one hand on the door.

“Thanks for letting me be a part of this.”

Pepper smiled at Tony. "Will that be all, Mister Stark?"

"That will be all, Miss Potts."

JUNE 17, 2010, 6:47 PM — TONY STARKS MANSION, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

Tony was checking some of the wiring in his suit when Pepper walked into his workshop. Her pregnancy still had him in awe. They hadn’t told anyone else yet, because he wasn’t completely sure who to trust, and so she was still hiding it most of the time — very well, too. He would have know idea if he didn’t know that his tiny children were growing inside of her.

“Hey.” He said, moving toward her and picking up a lock chip from his desk. “You busy? Mind if I send you on an errand? I need you to go to my office and hack into the mainframe, you’re gonna retrieve all of the recent shipping manifests. This is a lock chip—“ he put the device down in front of her. “This’ll get you in. Its probably under executive files, if not, they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you need to look for the lowest numerical category.”

“And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?”

“Same drill.” He said, pressing some buttons to ready his suit for use. “They’ve been dealing under the table, i'm gonna stop it. I'm gonna find my weapons, and destroy them.”

“Tony… You know I would help you with anything, but… I cannot help you if you’re gonna start all of this again.”

Tony didn’t look at her as she spoke, instead looking at some of the schematics for his suit. “There’s nothing except this. There is no art opening, there is no benefit, there’s no safe world for our kids to grow up in, there is nothing to sign.” He raised his voice slightly as he turned towards her. “There is the next mission, and nothing else.”

Pepper nodded her head, her expression stony. “Is that so? Well then, I quit.” She threw the lock chip he had given her back onto his desk, and started towards the door.

“You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction, and now that im trying to protect the people that I put in harms way, you’re gonna walk out?” He said after her, desperation filling him.

He needed her. She was… she was Pepper, and Pepper was everything. Pepper was having his children — he still couldn’t get over that fact — and he couldn’t let her just walk out.

“You’re gonna kill yourself, Tony! And im not gonna be a part of it. God, I cannot take this stress.” She said the last words quietly, probably not meaning for him to hear them.

Tony sat down, and stared sat the floor. “ I shouldn’t be alive — unless it was for a reason” He sighed, and looked at her. “Im not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know… what I have to do. And I know in my heart that its right. I need to do this — for them. I know that I can change this, and… if I can make a safer world for them, then I’m going to do it.”

Pepper sighed, and walked back toward the desk. She picked the lock chip back up, and looked him right in the eyes. “You’re all I have too, you know. And them.” She said quietly, before walking back out with the lock chip.

It was a few hours later, once it was getting dark, that Tonys phone finally rang.

Peppers number.

She hadn’t given him any information since he sent her out, and he had started to worry. About her, about the kids, about everything.

“Tony?” Peppers voice came over the line, when a loud ringing filled his ears, and he suddenly couldn’t move. He was paralysed. He couldn’t move. He could barely hear Pepper calling him from the phone.

He could feel a hand on his neck, guiding him back to lean on his sofa, and Obadiah’s voice filled his ears. “Breathe…. Easy, easy.”

Obie leant forward, so that Tony could just see him, and held up a silver device. “You remember this one, right? It’s a shame the government didn’t approve, there’s so many applications for causing short term paralysis.”

The mans footsteps filled his ears, and then Obie was right in front of him, taking some devices out of his ears. “Ah, Tony. When I, uh, ordered a hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose — with you gone, it’d just be little May left with everything, and Howard never had any intention of having the business in her hand. But, you see —“

Obadiah picked up a round, metallic device, and pressed it against the arc reactor in his chest. “— it was just fate that you survived that.” The device detached the arc reactor, cutting Tony off from it. He lurched forward, and the sense of impending doom filled him.

He was going to die. He was stuck here, with nothing keeping him alive, and he would never see Pepper, or Rhodey, or May, or even Happy again. He would never meet his children. He was going to die.

Tony could feel his heart beating in his ears as Obie grinned at him, looking at the glowing reactor hungrily. “You had one last golden egg to give,” Obie scoffed. “You really think, that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you? Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb — now what kind of world would we live in today if he was as selfish as you?”

The older man — his own damn godfather — yanked the arc reactor fully out, pulling out the magnet just like Pepper accidentally had a few weeks earlier. He could feel himself entering cardiac arrest again, but he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t move. He was going to die.

“Oh its beautiful.” Obadiah murmured, looking over the reactor, and leaning an arm on the back of the couch sofa behind Tony. “Oh, Tony… This is your ninth symphony. Oh what a masterpiece, look at that… This is your legacy.”

Tony wanted to scream. He wanted to yell. He wanted to punch his godfather — who was actually fucking killing him — and tell him that this wasn’t his legacy. That his unborn kids were his legacy. He wanted to fucking kill Obadiah Stane.

But he couldn’t. He was paralysed. And now in cardiac arrest.

“A new generation of weapons… with this at its heart.” Obie was now sitting next to him, hand behind his back, too close. Way too close. The thing he needed to stay alive was right there… and yet just out of his reach. “Weapons that will help steer the world back on course with the balance of power in out hands. The right hands.”

The man opened something that was out of Tonys sight, and then closed it with a click, hiding the light of the reactor from him. “I wish you could see my prototype. It not as — well, not as conservative as yours. Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would’ve preferred that she lived.”

No. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Obadiahs footsteps were fading away, and he couldn’t move. Stane was going to kill Pepper. He was going to die, and he wouldn’t be able to stop Stane, and Pepper and the innocent, unborn twins were going to get hurt.

Fuck.

The second he started to regain feeling in his feet, he dragged himself over to the lift, throwing himself into it and stuttering for Jarvis to send him down to the shop.

The door slid open cooly, and he stumbled out, opening the door to the workshop. He stared across the room, to the glass box holding his old reactor — the one that Pepper had gotten engraved for him.

Tony fell to the ground as he attempted to walk towards it. His heart was drumming in his ears, and his thoughts were a mantra of stop Stane, save Pepper, save kids. Stop Stane, save Pepper, save kids.

He pulled himself across the ground, trying desperately to get to the device.

He reached the table, and tried to grab it in despair, but only managed to knock it away from him. Tony slumped onto floor, finally giving up. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t get up, he couldn’t save himself, or Pepper, or the kids, or anyone.

He was saved by the whirring of DUM-E, and looked up hazily to see the glass case in the bots’ claw. Tony grabbed it thankfully, staring at the bot in awe. “Good boy.” He murmured, smashing it onto the ground next to him.

He could still stop Stane. He could still save Pepper. He could still meet his children.

He just had to be quick.

Tony could barely move again, though, when Rhodey sprinted into the workshop, calling his name. His best friend crouched next to him, “Tony are you okay?”

“Where’s Pepper?” He asked breathlessly, letting Rhodey grab his arm, and help him sit up.

“She’s fine.” Rhodey assured him — that didn’t calm him, though. “She’s with five agents, they’re about to arrest Obadiah.”

“That's not gonna be enough.” He muttered.

Rhodey passed him the device from the ground next to him, and he reattached it awkwardly — his hands were too big. He felt his heart return to normal, and sighed in relief.

Now, he just had to go save Pepper.

Piece of cake.

JULY 23, 2010, 10:17 AM — TONY STARKS MANSION, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA. 

Pepper was very good at hiding her pregnancy; Tony knew that much. 

The only times that she didn't hide her now very large stomach were when she was alone with those that knew — which, so far, was just him and May, Ben and Rhodey. 

They had told Rhodey after everything that happened with Stane at the factory. Pepper had almost died, Tony had almost died, he had been fretting over her way too much to be considered normal, and his best friend had found out. 

He was glad for it, though. Rhodey had been his best friend since he was fifteen, and he deserved to know that Tony and Pepper were going to have a kid together. Kids, multiple. They were gonna have twins. 

Tony was still finding it hard to believe, no matter how very, extremely real it was becoming.

Pepper was sitting on the white sofa overlooking the ocean, rifling through baby magazines, her baby bump perfectly obvious as she sat in her pyjamas. 

Tony thought she looked beautiful. 

Pepper had disagreed with him every time he said it, but her was adamant that he was right. 

He had always thought that people saying women were radiant and glowing, and... everything, while pregnant were being ridiculous — boy was he wrong. Because Pepper, who he was dating and expecting children with, was glowing. She was radiant. And he told her that every chance he got.

Tony sat on the steps across from her, two disassembled cribs on the floor in front of him. He had been working on them for more than a month, and was only now putting them back together. They had started out completely ordinary — which, Tony hated to admit, had taken a lot longer than expected to assemble the first time — and now included just about every feature, safety, entertainment or otherwise, imaginable.

"Do you think we have enough bibs?" Pepper asked, still flicking through the magazine. 

Tony laughed a bit as he began to reassemble the first crib. "Pep, we have too many bibs. We are drowning in bibs. J, show me a catalog of all out bibs, please."

"Of course, sir." A blue-tinted hologram appeared in front of him, and he began to swipe through the lists of types of bibs.

"Look at this; we got blue bibs, we got pink bibs, we have yellow bibs — hell, we even have unicorn bibs. And shark bibs. And giraffe bibs — I don't think we could physically have more bibs."

Pepper leaned back, sinking further into the couch. "If one of them's a girl, we should name her after May."

Tony looked up as she said that, putting down the pieces of the second crib. "Really? After May?"

"Why wouldn't we name a girl after May; you've already said that's your family tradition. Name the girls after their Aunts, boys after their Uncles."

"Yeah, but you also have a sister. Ginger — wouldn't you want to name a girl after her?"

Pepper laughed, but kept looking through her magazine. She placed a hand on her stomach gently. "Making her middle name Gianetta would not help her in any way — at all. It sure as hell didn't help Ginger... plus, we haven't spoken in... a bit."

Tony knew that. Peppers sister was a tough topic for her. From what little she had told him, they had a fight, and hadn't spoken since 2006 — and their fight had caused Pepper to become rather separated from the entirety of her family.

He smiled despite himself. May would love that. "And a boy?" He lifted an eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes behind her magazine. 

"James. Or Ben. Or both, if it's two boys." She said matter of factly. "If its two girls, the second can be after Gianetta."

"Seems fair." Tony agreed — he was half way through the second crib. The one for baby number two. "Maybe not finding the genders wasn't a great idea."

Pepper set her magazine down on the couch next to her, and put her second hand on her bump with the first. She smiled, and Tony felt an unimaginable amount of love for her. "Eh, I want to see if the whole 'mothers intuition', 'i'll know what they will be without confirmation' thing." Peppers smile became even brighter, if that was even possible. "I think its a boy and a girl."

Tony shrugged, and kept putting together the final pieces of the cribs, and adding the additional feature. "I can't really know, Pep. I don't know what they'll be."

Pepper smirked. "My bet's on a boy and a girl. Middle names can be May and James. Boy and a girl."

"Whatever you say, darling." Tony laughed. "Whatever it is, they will be amazing."

"That they will." She agreed. "They'll be awesome." 

AUGUST 10, 2010, 2:13 AM — MALIBU PRIVATE HOSPITAL, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

“It’s a girl.” The midwife said finally, and Pepper let out a relieved sigh.

“Its a girl.” Tony murmured, his hand squeezing hers tightly. “A boy and a girl. You were right!"

Pepper felt tears of joy coming to her eyes, and she sighed in relief. “Is it over?” She asked breathlessly, looking towards May, who was holding her other hand.

May grinned, and nodded. “Its over, Pep. A boy and a girl.”

Pepper let out an overjoyed sob, and finally released Tony and Mays hands. “Holy shit.” She muttered, staring at her reddened hands. She had been desperately holding onto Tony and May since she started labour, and god, did that hurt. “Holy shit, that was a long thirteen hours.”

“Thirteen and a half.” Tony corrected with a smile, wincing slightly as he rubbed his own reddened hand. “You are a Fucking legend.”

“Tony!” May hissed, slapping his hand across Pepper. “Young ears are here! No fucking swearing!”

Pepper let out a breathy laugh at their arguing, and looked at the midwife. “Can I see them?” She asked quietly, holding a hand out toward the cribs that her babies had been placed in.

The midwife had been payed a lot to keep everything about this quiet, and had been hit with a bunch of non disclosure agreements. Chances were she would be too scared to even think about screwing them over. 

The midwife nodded, and she picked up one of the babies — the one in the blue blanket — and handed the child to her. “This is your son, Miss Potts.”

Tears flowed down Peppers cheeks as she held her son close, and looked into his tiny face. He was asleep, his mouth open slightly as he breathed in and out, a tiny amount of dark hair visible on the top of his head.

The midwife was holding the second bundle, now, and Pepper shifted her son into just one arm, reaching out for the second baby. “Your daughter.” The young woman said, giving her the little girl.

She was asleep, just like her brother. The same patch of dark hair on top of her head. If Pepper wasn’t completely aware that they were fraternal, and if they weren’t a son and a daughter, she would think they were identical — they looked so similar like that, both calmly sleeping.

“Peter and Morgan?” Tony asked, staring at the  three of them lovingly.

They had been brainstorming names a lot in the last few months, and Peter and Morgan had been their favourites  — Peter and Morgan for Either a boy and a girl, or two boys, or Morgan and Piper for two girls. 

“Peter and Morgan.” Pepper confirmed, looking between the two of them with so much love filling her that she felt as though she was going to implode.

There was a knock on the door, making her, Tony and May all turn toward it.

“That’ll be Ben and Rhodey.” May exclaimed, rushing up to open the door. She was right; as soon as the door opened, Ben and Rhodey entered, Ben holding a big bouquet of flowers, and Rhodey holding two little stuffed bunnies.

“Congratulations!” Rhodey exclaimed, as Ben leant across to kiss May. “I hear I have a Niece and a Nephew.”

“That's right!” Pepper said, looking up from the twins to Rhodey, Ben and May. “Morgan May Stark, and Peter James Stark.”

Tony grinned beside her, and May laughed. “God,” She chuckled. “She’s even got my old initials — MMS. I promise I will teach those kids to give you so much shit, I swear on my soul, they will give you hell.”

“Ha-ha.” Tony laughed. “You will not taint these kids with your evilness May. Not on my watch.”

Pepper scoffed, and looked back to Tony, who was looking at their kids with such intensity that she half expected his eyes to pop out. “You wanna hold one?” She asked softly, and he nodded, his eyes glassy from his own tears.

He reached forward, and picked up Peter gently. She watched the tears roll down his face as he looked their son, and smiled. “We did it, Tony.” She whispered, cradling Morgan closer.

“No, Pep.” He looked up from Peter, eyes filled with emotion. “You did it.”

MAY 29, 2011, 1:22 PM — TONY STARKS’ MANSION, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

“God, I’m so sorry.” Tony looked down at the two nine months olds sitting on their baby mat in front of him.

A part of him hated how much the twins got from him — it was always going to happen; Peppers blonde hair and blue eyes would always lose the genetic battle to his own darker features. Facially, they looked more like her; Peter especially.

They both had his eyes, but they both had Peppers’ cheekbones, and her face shape. Peter had her nose, but Morgan had his. Morgan and Peter both inherited her strawberry allergy, though. Apparently.

Tony watched them intently. Peter was babbling nonsense, poking his sisters cheeks with his face screwed up in irritation. Morgan was attempting to bat his hand away, her tongue poked out in concentration. Tony laughed at their antics, then frowned.

His blood toxicity was at sixty-four percent. He would be dead within the year.

He would probably die before his kids turned one. He would never get to see them start kindergarten. See them graduate high school. Go to college. Fall in love. Go through their rebellious phases…

It was real this time. It was worse than Afghanistan. Worse than when Obie ripped his heart out. Worse than when the factory exploded around him.

Because this time, he had time to think about it. He knew it was coming; and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He made Pepper CEO — god, that was a good decision, she was already so much better at it than he was.

Somehow, he would get the War Machine suit to Rhodey. Rhodey was in the Air Force. He had military training. He could take over from Tony easy enough.

Tony would owe May forever. She was the only person that had been there forever, since his literal birth. He couldn’t give her anything, there was no way she could get her to forgive him for this.

But she would move on.

The kids… he sighed. The kids would have to be okay without him — his dad was barely there, and he was… fine. He turned out fine. He was totally fine.

Pepper was an amazing mom. They would be fine with just her. It would be okay.

His birthday party was tonight, and he knew it was a mistake. May would be over in about fifteen minutes, to pick the twins up — she and Ben were looking after them for the next few days.

He knew he was gonna fuck tonight up. He already knew it. He was dying, he was battling an alcohol addiction, and he was pretty emotionally unstable at the moment.

Morgan finally got her way in pushing Peter away, and rolled awkwardly toward Tony. “Dada?” She asked with a grin, crawling over to where he was sitting cross-legged, next to the mat.

“Mo-mo.” He murmured back, picking her up and holding her close, kissing her tiny cheek softly. “You okay, little Miss?”

“Dada!” Peters voice said, irritated. Tony looked down to see his son pouting next to him.

He laughed, placing Morgan back down, and picking Peter up instead. “You jealous, Pete?” He asked, kissing Peter on the cheek as well.

Morgan started babbling next to him, and Tony set Peter back down next to her. “You have fun, guys.” He whispered, standing up as he heard May walk in. “Love you — hi May, love you, have fun with the little demons, bye.”

He had to try make this right.

For his kids.

He still knew he was going to fuck up tonight, though. Fuck his dumb ass thirty sixth birthday. 

MAY 31, 2010, 10:12 PM — MAY AND BEN PARKERS APARTMENT, QUEENS, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK.

"I'm still mad at you, by the way." Pepper muttered into the kiss she was sharing with Tony. The Expo had been a disaster — fault of Justin Hammer, whos' drones only worked because he had broken Ivan Vanko, a criminal who tried to kill Tony, out of prison just to help him make them.

Tony pulled away slightly, and looked straight into her eyes, grabbing her hands gently. "And you should be. You were right, the party was a mistake, and I fucked up, and I'm sorry that I destroyed our house, and I--"

"— that's not why I'm mad, Tony." She cut across him. "You didn't tell me that you were dying. You were dying, and you didn't tell anyone! Did you not think, even once, that maybe you should have tried to talk to me, or to May, or Rhodey, or even Happy, about this?"

"I knew what I was doing, Pep. I had it sorted..." Tony tried, but she cut across him again.

"You were accepting your death! You pushed everyone away — you let Rhodey take the War Machine suit and you made me CEO, then pushed us both away, you sent the kids to stay with May, and said your goodbyes to all of them! All of us! Tony!"

"I'm sorry." He murmured, stealing a glance across the hall from their guest room at Mays place, to the room the twins were staying in. "I am so sorry, Pep. I was just doing what I had to do, okay? I was dying, and I had tried everything, and I just — I didn't want any of you to have to watch me die for real... but i'm okay now — I synthesised a new element, and this one won't poison my blood if it's in the arc reactor, and I — Im really sorry."

"You really should be." Pepper said half angrily, giving him another soft kiss. "I told you last year, I'm not going to watch you kill yourself, and I meant it, honey. You can't pull something like this again. No more putting yourself directly in harms way, okay?"

"Okay."

"You have to promise, Tony. You can't keep doing this."

"I promise, Pep. It won't happen again."

MAY 04, 2012, 1:16 PM — ABOVE STARK TOWER, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK.

Tony was flying directly into the wormhole that had opened above his brand new tower. Into space. Into imminent death.

Pepper would be so mad at him if by some stroke of luck he managed to survive this.

Chances are he wouldn’t, though. Whether or not that was him dodging a bullet (the bullet being Peppers wrath), or just grabbing the gun and shooting himself in the head by doing this, he wasn’t quite sure, but he didn’t have time for that right now.

“Call to Maybelle The Angry Italian Tomato Farmer could not connect.” JARVIS informed him, and he felt a new flutter of terror shoot through his heart.

He couldn’t say goodbye to his sister.

“Call — call Pepper. Call Pepper, J.” He said quickly, trying not to dwell on that horrifying fact for too long.

Tony entered the void of space, fear coursing though his veins as he struggled to breathe. This was it.

“Sir, Pep-p—” JARVIS’ voice in his headset faded, and Tony let out a soft sob, squeezing his eyes shut as he continued to fly straight upwards. Upwards. Upwards.

He glanced down, back at the wormhole.

He was far enough away now; he could let go of the nuke, and it would hit the alien ships surrounding him rather than New York — so he did. He let go.

It continued toward the ships, but Tony closed his eyes before he could see it hit them.

He was going to die; his suit had no power, and if his new teammates were stupid enough to leave the portal open long enough for him to get back through, he would just fall to his death. The only difference between the portal staying open and closing, for him, was where his dead body would lay. Either floating indefinitely through space, or squashed into some Manhattan sidewalk.

He felt tears falling down his cheeks. He couldn’t say goodbye to his sister; the person he knew would always be there for him. To Pepper, the love of his life. To Rhodey and Happy, his best friends, brothers, almost.

To his kids. Morgan and Peter. The best thing that ever happened to him. Lights of his life.

He let out another choked sob, and then breathed out deeply.

Tony fell.

JULY 15, 2012, 3:28 PM — TONY STARKS' MANSION, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

Things between him and Pepper had been tense since the — since what happened in May.

The Chitauri Invasion. Loki. The shit show that officially created the Avengers team.

He had promised Pepper that he wouldn't put himself directly in the line of fire again; and he wouldn't almost kill himself again... and he did exactly that.

She had, understandably, been terrified, and angry, and had way too many things to yell at him when he came home after the battle.

The tension was beginning to ebb, thankfully, and she was starting to be less mad at him — she had started sleeping in his bed again, which was a huge relief. Sleeping, a now near-impossible task, was easier when she was there with him.

He smiled at her, and squeezed her hand gently. The twins were walking around pretty damn well now, and so chasing one another around in the grass in their large yard was seemingly an easy affair for them now.

Pepper smiled back tentatively, squeezing his hand in return. Reassuring him. Things would work themselves out.

MARCH 06, 2013, 11:54 PM — PEPPER POTTS' TOWNHOUSE, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.

She and Tony were fighting.

It wasn’t the first time, but Pepper had a feeling that it might be the last time.

She was making sure it was the last time.

Morgan and Peter were a secret to the world — only a very select few knew of their existence; her and Tony, of course, Rhodey and Happy, Ben and May, and Natasha. That was it. Seven people knew of their existence.

Pepper and Tony had been through their fair share of arguments — that as inevitable, after a decade of working for him, and two years of dating him.

But she knew something bad was going to happen. This had to stop — their relationship wasn’t healthy. Tony risked too much, too often; Afghanistan, Obadiah, Palladium Poisoning, the Expo in 2011, New York, the Mandarin… it was getting ridiculous.

She loved him — she really did… but she couldn’t keep going like this. He had destroyed his suits on Christmas, only to start rebuilding a couple of weeks later.

He had gotten rid of the Extremis running through her, but she knew that wasn’t enough.

Before the twins were born, she had told him that she wasn’t going to watch him kill himself. After the Expo Incident, she had said the same thing. And after New York. She had meant it every time she said it.

She had watched him almost do so too many times, and she wasn’t planning on watching when he finally did it.

Tony was across from her, his head in his hands. She knew he wouldn’t want to do this… she didn’t want to either. But she had to.

They were breaking up.

“It doesn’t have to be messy.” She assured him softly, making him look up. His eyes were reddened from crying, and his hair was a mess. “We don’t have to see each other. We only have to see each other at work. It won’t be complicated.”

“It will be complicated, Pep, and you know it.” Tony said, desperation in his voice. “We have kids! Kids that no-one knows about! How do we un-complicate that?”

Pepper sighed. “We have three options with the kids if we want to keep them secret.” Tony raised one of his eyebrows, and she continued. “I take both of them —“

“— and I actually lose both of the kids in the divorce, which is worse than losing Hap and Nat in 2011 —

“— you take both of them —“

“— which you and I both know you will never agree to—“

“—or we take one each.”

Tony blinked at her once. Twice. Three times. She sighed.

“We can’t stay together, Tony. I won’t watch you continue this. We can’t go through custody arrangements, because if anyone outside of May, Ben, Happy, Nat and Rhodey know, they’ll be targeted, and they’ll suffer. I know it’s a terrible thing to do, but it’s the best plausible option.”

Tony sighed. “Fine. Whatever. I hate this, but fine. Whatever makes you happy.”

“I’m really sorry, Tony.” Pepper sighed. But this is the only way.

“Fine.”

“I hate this just as much as you.”

“I know you do.” He said softly, and she knew that he really did know.

Pepper looked down, and groaned. “So, how to we sort this.”

Tony just shrugged.

“Look, Tony, we have to do this, but… Im not choosing. I love them both so much, and Im not choosing.”

Tony gripped his right hand tightly, and stared at her. “Whats the most logical option?”

“I guess… I guess I should take Mo, and you should take Pete?”

“I guess so — that seems like the smartest way to do this.”

“Okay — im sorry, Tony.”

“I am too.” Tony said blandly. “So, clean cut, kids don’t know about each other, or their other parent, that sorta deal?”

“Thats the only way this will work.” Pepper said. She was aware that there were heavy tears falling from her eyes, but she had to do this.

“Okay.” Tony stood up, his own cheeks glistening, and wiped his hands off on his pants. “Okay. Pete and I can be gone by morning — just know, Pep… I love you. I will always love you.”

Pepper pursed her lips in a terrible attempt to stop her tears. “I love you too, Tony.” He looked at her hopefully, and she sighed. “And that’s why we need to do this.”

Tony nodded solemnly, and left the room.

They parted ways for the last time that night, Tony taking Peter back to New York with him, openly crying. Pepper watched him leaving from Morgan bedroom window, sobbing into her two and a half year old daughters hair.

This was goodbye.