Justin pouted. "Well, I feel all kinds of special now."
Tony headed for the door, not trusting himself to be alone with the guy and his mocking observations any longer.
"You know one of us will pull the trigger on them one day," Justin called out after him, "but it's you who put the gun in our hands, Tony. Have fun learning to live with that."
Tony didn't turn around, just kept walking and trying to fight against the truth in the other man's words, but knowing he couldn't.
Happy looked up from where he was sitting in the driver's seat of the limo, reading the paper and saw Tony approaching. He could tell just from the way Tony was moving that the meeting hadn't gone well. Tony crossed the road and instead of getting in the car he just kept walking. Happy quickly turned the ignition over and put the car in first gear, moving to catch up with Tony who had already stalked a fair way ahead of him. He drew alongside Tony as the other man stared staunchly ahead. "So, boss, how about I drive you where you need to go?"
Tony didn't answer, just kept walking.
Happy grimaced, knowing this wasn't a good sign. "Didn't go well, huh?" He hesitated. "Hammer's still alive, right?"
"He shouldn't be," Tony ground out.
"No argument here, boss," said Happy easily.
Tony abruptly stopped walking and stared at Happy who had been forced to brake suddenly. "I'm going to get Pepper killed. I'm going to get you killed."
Happy shrugged. "It's been twenty years, Tony, you haven't managed it so far."
"Everything is different now," said Tony hoarsely.
"Because of Iron Man?"
"Yes, because of Iron Man and because-"
Happy pursed his lips at the way Tony had so abruptly stopped talking. "Because you've let yourself fall in love?"
Tony's jaw hardened and he seemed to be in real pain. "I have to end this," said Tony hoarsely. "Pepper's not safe with me."
"I don't think that was Pepper's purpose when she fell in love with you," Happy observed.
"We have to be over, this can't go on." Tony sounded completely and utterly desperate.
It looked to Happy as those words were actually causing Tony physical pain. He shook his head at Tony. "Because if you break her heart and end the relationship, then what, you won't care what happens to her all of a sudden?"
Tony's eyebrows knitted together in a fierce line. "Of course not," he said sharply.
"Then how does this plan of yours work exactly?"
"She won't be a target if she's not connected with me," Tony argued.
"So what, you're going to fire her as well?" Happy asked in disbelief.
Tony's frown deepened, clearly not having thought of that yet.
"You couldn't go one day without Pepper," Happy informed him. "There is no way you could cut her out of your life and survive. Now, stop this crazy talk and tell me what is really going on?"
Tony slumped against the side of the car and put a shaking hand to his face. "Seventeen seconds," he rasped.
"What?"
"Seventeen seconds," Tony repeated raggedly. "That was how long it was between Cap telling me that Pepper had been shot and my getting to her side and being able to do a vitals scan."
Happy climbed out of the car and stood in front of Tony. He didn't think he'd ever seen his friend look so devastated. Happy just let him talk.
"My head," said Tony unevenly, "it's always full of thoughts, problems, ideas, always, ever since I could remember, my brain has just been going a hundred miles a minute." He slowly shook his head. "But when I heard those words about Pepper being shot and I didn't know if she was already dead, there was nothing. It was like this abyss had opened up in my head and I just fell into it. I couldn't speak, I couldn't think, there was nothing but blackness and this feeling of falling. For seventeen seconds I don't think I even existed." He looked up at Happy with pain-filled eyes. "I don't know what to do with those kinds of feelings, Happy," he confessed hoarsely. "I don't know how anyone is meant to deal with that. Pepper can't die, ever, she just can't."
"Tony, you were never the guy who wanted safe and easy," said Happy quietly. "That's not your style. You can do this thing with Pepper, I know you can. Some things are worth risking pain for and what you've got with Pepper is definitely one of those things."
Tony rubbed his face, suddenly looking very tired. "I'm no good at this stuff. I'm getting it all wrong."
"You were no good with the Iron Man suit at first," Happy argued. "How many walls did you destroy, how many cars, swimming pools, sides of mountains, your best friend's new flat screen TV?"
Tony grimaced. "Oh yeah, sorry about that. I replaced it, right?"
"I took the one from your den in lieu of payment," Happy informed him.
"Oh," said Tony, looking mildly surprised, "is that where that got to?"
"The point is, boss, you set your mind to something and you went after it and you eventually mastered it. You can do that with this thing between Pepper and you. She's the best thing that's ever happened to you. You know and I know it."
"But am I the best thing that ever happened to her?" Tony fretted in an uncharacteristic moment of self-doubt. "She's taking a much bigger risk on me than I am on her."
"You don't think Pepper knows that?" asked Happy in disbelief. "And yet, there she is, right by your side and not flinching for a moment." He rolled his eyes. "You're the one rolled up into a ball in the corner and rocking back and forward."
Tony frowned. "That's not what I'm doing."
"That's exactly what you're doing," said Happy firmly. "The situation with you being Iron Man is what it is. We're all prepared to take that risk, so you should just get over yourself."
Tony scowl deepened. "What is that, tough love?"
"Call it what you will, but you got somewhere you need to be right now."
Tony straightened up. "Where?"
"Pepper wants you to come home," Happy informed him, "to her, she's waiting for you. It's where she needs you and you have to be. You can't go back to that guy you were before you made a commitment to her, Tony. That guy doesn't exist anymore. You just have to keep on going forward and the good news is that you've got who are willing to go on that journey with you."
Tony seemed to be thinking about that for a long moment. He eyed Happy warily. "So, this Dr Phil persona you've got going on, is this going to be a keeper?"
"I don't know, is this out of control, revenge crazed persona going to hang around for much longer?"
Tony pursed his lips. "You're the least respectful of my employees, do you know that, Happy?"
Happy rolled his eyes. "That cannot be true. I just do it to your face, is all."
"Are you telling me I'm not beloved by my employees?"
"I'm telling you to get into the car so I can take you home."
"I should dock your pay for all of this subordination," Tony noted, even as he let Happy open the door for him.
"You've been docking my pay for years, boss," said Happy, watching as the other man climbed into the back seat of the limo. "Technically I pay you for the honour of driving you around these days."
Tony nodded in approval. "As it should be." Happy went to close the door but Tony stalled him. "Happy."
"Yes, boss."
The two men's eyes met and Happy could see in Tony's eyes all the words the other man was never going to work out how to say. Tony opened his mouth and looked unsure.
A/N: Okay, so it really pained me to let Justin Hammer have the upper hand in that little confrontation, but it was a necessary evil because of where Tony is as a character right now. He's a red hot mess and he has to deal with that. To have JH, of all people, speak this kind of truth to him has to sting more than a little. But hang in there guys, I have to tear Tony down, before I can build him back up again. ;)
We'll be getting back into the more fun stuff soon. I try not to have endless angst and soul searching, because it can get a bit wearing. And next chapter, there is some Pepperony interaction, promise. ;)
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‼️🎈hello everyone thank you so much for reading this chapter! 🙏 If you'd like to read the full novel "The Price of Legacy", you can find it on my Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com in the store section in PDF format. This fanfic will consist of 30 chapters .
I'll be leaving the link to my Ko-Fi store in the first comment.👇🏻👇🏻🎈‼️
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