Chapter 2

5 years later,

Tony had been driving for multiple days when he reached a welcome sign with a red bird. Around 36 hours ago, he had left the mansion on the fly. He didn't remember if he had really thought about it or tried to plan it. He had just jumped in his car and drove fast dead east, trying not to think too much about what he was doing, because if he thought about it, he would probably make a U-turn.

After another hour, he eventually made his way to a two-story house surrounded by corn fields. He parked his car a fair distance from the house, just to be safe. He got out of his car with a stretch; he had driven all the way from Malibu, stopping only for gas. He looked tired, his cheeks had grown gaunt, his goatee wasn't in shape anymore, his hair was messy and his back was painful. His sunglasses helped his tired, red eyes to stand the afternoon sun of Virginia. He adjusted his dark blue tee-shirt, spotting a grease stain on his pants. "I should change before leaving," he thought. He patted his arc reactor, trying to find the courage to walk to the front door.

As he was walking, he took a closer look to the house. It hadn't changed much since the last time he had seen it. It was a typical American house, perfect stereotype of the classic Virginian farmhouse, barn on the right side, a small mail box in middle of nowhere, a hipped roof and many square columns supporting front porch and cornice trim.

When he finally reached the porch, he froze. Was he here? Was he really here? It seemed like unreal! He started second guessing himself, wondering if this was a good idea. In fact, he knew it was definitely not a good idea, but now he was here. He removed his sunglasses, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The door opened but he couldn't see anybody at his size. His eyes eventually dropped on a young boy who was grinning. "Hello," He said in a soft voice.

Tony smiled at him gently but it quickly faded from his face as his eyes locked upon the kid's. Deep ocean blue eyes. He had seen this shade of blue in only one pair of eyes before … His heart sped up and his knees went weak. His thoughts were suddenly cut by woman voice on the background.

"How many times have I told you, Dane? Don't open the door for strangers!"

"Sorry grandma, but you were in the kitchen, I thought I could answer before you came." The boy explained turning his head toward his grandmother approaching.

The woman was now coming up beside the little boy, and was drying her hand with a napkin as she gave a look to see who was there. She stopped, shock in her eyes. She gaze slowly drifted to Dane.

"Dane, sweetheart, go play in your room dear."

"But Grandma, I'd rather…" he tried to argue.

"Dane, what did we just say about talking back?" his grandmother reminded him.

"Fine, I'm going." he finally conceded, clearly disappointed. He gave a final look to Tony as he reached the stairs.

When she was sure that the boy had left, she turned again toward the visitor and said "Tony?"

"Hello Mrs. Potts," Pepper's mother was a beautiful woman for her age. Her hair had turned grey but used to be a nice shade of red. Her eyes were blue, not exactly like Pepper's, but still expressive, and the expression that Tony was reading at this moment in her eyes was not a welcoming one.

"What are you doing here? " She asked rudely.

"I just came for…" He started.

She cut him off, "For what Tony?" She stared into his eyes "You can't come 'just for' anymore! You lost that privilege 5 years ago!" She stated harshly.

"I know, I don't want… I mean, I want to… I really want to…" He was mumbling. "I guess I made a mistake" he eventually said.

"A mistake? Is it what you'd call it?" she shook her head, anger in her voice. "A mistake." she repeated in disbelief.

"I know, I don't mean…" He tried to explain.

She cut him off sharply. "You destroyed her Tony! You know that? You can't imagine against what she went through!" She said brutally.

Tony stared at his feet as he felt Pepper's mum words overwhelming him.

"She was in love with you! Oh god, so in love! She trusted you even, if I never really understood why!" Tony felt his own heart crack at these works. "I warned her 100 times about you, but every time she told me that you were a good guy and that you would never hurt her. And do you know what's funny?" She asked him, pausing for a time as he looked at her. "I tried to believe her, and I even started to appreciate you! And what for? You did the worst thing that you could do to her: You left her without a good reason!" She almost yelled.

Tony tensed at her last sentence "I had a good reason! You have no idea what you're talking about lady! You can blame me for a lot of things, but you can't blame me for trying to protect her! It was too damn dangerous to stay with me, to be anywhere nears all this crazy Iron man shit!" He tried to hold back his tears as anger and pain began to overwhelm him "You know well what happened Mrs. Potts, you know that they raped her and that she almost died! I didn't want that happen again! I'd rather be alone knowing that she is happy somewhere else, maybe with someone else, than alone knowing that she died because of me!" He closed his eyes. She saw the few tears that rolled down to his cheek before he swiped them quickly away with his left hand. Tony was not a crying kind of guy and she was wondering if the tiredness was betrayed him. "You can't blame me for that."

"But It wasn't fair to choose for her Tony!" Her tone wasn't softer; tears or not, she was not prepared to be nice with this man.

Tony answered fast "You don't understand. I had to do it. If I didn't make the decision, she would never leave, never be safe. You have no idea what I went through not to go back on my decision. I've wanted to come 1000 times the last 5 years!"

"So that bring's me back to the question: What are you doing here TODAY Tony?" she said flatly.

"I don't know really…" he paused for some seconds and then added "In the last week, it become... unbearable!"

"So 5 years is the most Anthony Stark could put up with?" Anger came back harder in her voice.

"Please," he begged "you can't imagine, you can't possibly imagine..."

"So why now Tony?" she asked again.

"I feel like I need it" He guessed.

"And did you think for one second about Virginia? Did you think about what SHE needs? Did you even think of what she will feel seeing you after 5 years? Do you think that she needs you to come and break into her life after 5 years, like you own it?" Anger was growing in her voice with every word.

"You know, believe it or not I did. I think I just came because I wanted to know if she is happy. I mean, I am so, so unhappy; I just wanted to make sure that she has moved on and that she is happy now, and to be sure that I made the right decision for both of us." He stated.

"Oh, I see!" she snapped, she shook her head in disbelief, almost laughing at the situation. "You just want to ease your conscience! That is so selfish! I mean it is so you, Tony!" Tony was astonished, out of words. "You are sad so you just want to see if Virginia is the same. And what is your plan? I'm curious, tell me! What if she is sad, and still thinking of you? What are you going to do? You'll tell her that it's shame, and then leave her again, won't you? Because you're still Iron Man, aren't you? So she will not be safer with you now than 5 years ago, am I right?"

"I didn't really think about that…" he mumbled.

"I know you didn't. As I said, selfish, as usual. And now let's say that she is happy, and she's made a new life here. Will you come in and send it all crashing down? She spent 15 long years with you Tony. She gave all she had to you. She helped you through everything, at any time; she suffered all your caprices. She sacrificed a big part of her life for you Tony! Do you think that seeing you today will not touch her even if she has another life now?" blunt sincerity flowed through all her words.

Tony was completely lost. He hadn't thought about any of this before coming here. He had just followed an intuition. "You're right" he finally conceded when the logic in her words hit him. He was a completely idiotic, selfish guy as usual. "I guess I made a big mistake coming here."

"Oh yes, you did Tony Stark. She doesn't need you anymore. She has her own life here now, without you!" She said abruptly. He nodded. "She has someone else in her life Tony; don't come and ruin everything, please." She finished, her tone a mix or scorn and requesting.

Pain seemed to course through his body, and he didn't know how he was still standing up. He tried to put himself together. "Yes, I understand, I'll leave. But please, before I go, I just need you to answer one question." He asked.

She took her time before answering. She knew or more exactly she was predicting what question he would ask. "Which one?"

"Is he her son?" he asked so much pain in his eyes. He needed to know, even if he was guessing already the answer, he needed to be sure.

"Yes, he is…" she answered, closing her eyes. Despite the contempt she felt for this man, she was not cruel, and did not wish to see any more pain in his eyes.

Tony's heart broke into thousand pieces. Why had he thought that a girl like her would stay alone forever? She was so fantastic, and it was logical that someone else had figured this out too. And this guy gave her the stability, the time, the comfort, that she wanted - everything that he could never give her. It was only fair to her.

"I guess I have my answer." He stated, she nodded. "Thank you Mrs. Potts, and I'm sorry for this interruption, it will never happen again, I promise." His eyes were full of tears when he turned, and she saw it. Even if she thought and meant everything she had said, it was tough to see him like that; he looked devastated, weariness not helping, no longer the Tony Stark she had known. He was a ghost of himself. It had made him more human and less evil. But past was past, and Pepper didn't need that today.

Halfway down the walkway, he paused and turned back, saying, "Oh and please, don't tell her that I came."

"Don't worry, I won't, trust me." She retorted.

He nodded and continued to his car, only allowing tears to stream down his cheeks as the door closed behind him.