Chapter 4

Virginia Potts was working in her office. It was already late in the afternoon when she closed her last files of the day. After working as a CEO of Stark industries for so long, and being the right hand man, or more exactly woman, a small start-up business was a piece of cake for her. She worked hard as usual, and the company was growing, along with her devotion. The only thing that had changed in Virginia's life was her schedule. Since Dane's birth, she had forced herself to go home at a reasonable hour of the afternoon to spend some time with him. Then, after he had gone to bed, she would get back to work from her computer at home. After her departure from LA, she had gone to her mother's house, yet when she had figured out that she was pregnant she had stayed there. Her mum was retired and it was convenient for everyone involved.

She stretched her arms, and smiled as her gaze landed on the picture frame on her desk. It was a picture of her and Dane, taken during their last Christmas. He had begged so much for this 'Build-Your-Own Electric Car', and had been so disappointed when it had taken him only one day to build it. He was so smart, she thought. Like his father… She shook her head at this thought; she refused to think about him, because every time she did it ended in an endless crying session. So instead, she grabbed her bag, dumped the document she was working with inside, and left her office.

After 30 minutes of driving, she arrived at home; she quickly spotted a car that was not supposed to be here. She parked her black Tesla model S next to what seemed to be a brand new Audi. She scanned the car, trying to figure out who it belonged to. At first, she simply thought that it might be a solicitor or census person or whatever; she didn't even imagine what she was about to discover. She was walking through the doorway when she heard laughter from the barn. She grinned at the sound of Dane's giggles. She loved hear him like that, it was the reason she lived. Her smile faded slowly, however, when she detected another voice coming from there.

"No, Dane, stop, it will…" A loud sound came from the barn, followed by burst out laughing. "I told you; don't remove that screw." The voice added between laughs.

The voice echoed in her head. She knew all too well to whom it belonged. Her heart sped up as she strode to the barn door. Then, as she caught sight of the scene within, she froze! Dane was there, kneeling down in front of the bike, back to her, a screwdriver in his hand. Next to him, a black haired man, back to her also, was staring at him, smile on his face. This smile, this face, this man, him! Everything seemed to occur in slow motion. The man took Dane in his arm, rubbing his hair, Dane was laughing. "You are a screwdriver genius, kiddo!" He said laughing too…

How was possible? How was happening? Her eyes opened wide, her heart exploding in her chest! If everything was different she would be the happiest woman in the world, as it was a perfect picture, a perfect moment in collusion between father and son. But it was not. What was he doing here? He didn't have any right to be here! Anger surged through her body, drying all tears that had been threatening to fall.

"I'm not, look, the gimbal felt," Dane said, a little disappointed.

Tony hugged him, pressing his head on his shoulder, "Don't worry, it's easy to fix…"

He was cut off by Dane, who spotted Pepper over Tony's shoulder "Mommy! You're home!" The little man freed himself from Tony's embrace and ran towards his mother.

Tony froze at Dane's words, and though he felt Dane pulling away, he didn't move, transfixed on his spot, unable to move. Then, he heard her voice, her gentle and beautiful voice.

"Yeah, I'm here sweetheart," she said kneeling down to catch Dane in her arms. She stood up, holding him in her arms and kissing him on his cheek. "How is my little boy doing?" she asked him.

Tony closed his eyes; it was so wonderful to hear her voice, yet so painful at the same time. "I'm good, very good! I fixed the problem with rotor thanks to Tony and we made a lot of progress on the bike." Dane exclaimed. The smile on Pepper's face faded when she heard Tony's name. It was not a surprise; she had already known that this man, knee down, back to her, was Tony Stark, but the confirmation was like a smack. Then, Dane added "Tony told me that he'll help me to repaint it also. We'll paint it in… What is the name of the color again?" he asked to Tony.

Tony felt his heart speed up in his chest; he stood up and turned slowly to face them. Pepper looked at him as he turned. His gaze was down and went gradually up from her high black heels to her deep ocean blue eyes. When his chocolate brown eyes locked in hers, she felt his stare run through her body. Breathing started to become difficult.

"Hot-rod red…" he whispered.

"Yeah, hot-rod red!" Dane repeated, thrilled, turning his gaze to his mother. His smiled washed-out when he saw his mother, eyes wide, staring at Tony. He looked at Tony, who was immobile on the other side of the barn. He was so excited about the events of the afternoon that he forgot briefly that his mother didn't like him. The silence was heavy even for the young boy.

Dane stared at his mother again. She was white, transfixed on her spot, and Dane could almost feel her shivering. "Mommy? Are you okay?" he asked slowly, almost scared about her reaction.

Time had stopped for Pepper; it was like everything was unreal, like she was dreaming. She couldn't feel her body anymore; it was like she was floating on the air. Suddenly, Dane's voice made her jerk back to the world again. She shook her head, ending the eye contact with Tony and then looked at Dane.

She hugged him hard, stroking his hair. "I'm okay honey," she whispered, kissing him on his cheek, "I'm okay…" she repeated again.

Tony watched the scene in silence. If everything was different, he would have hugged them. It was so painful; he could feel Pepper's distress through his entire body.

Pepper's hand was pressing on Dane's back to pull him closer. Her eyes were closed; her chin rested on his shoulder. Dane was hugging her with his petite hands, wrapping his arms around her neck. She could stay like that forever, with Dane against her, she felt good. After what seemed to be many minutes, she opened her eyes again. Tony was still in the same spot. He hadn't move. His gaze was soft and imploring, the gaze she gave back to him was dark and full of hate.

"Dane, sweetheart," she started, pulling Dane a little away from her "Can you be nice and go see grandma," she said putting him on the floor "I need to talk with Tony", she concluded.

Dane nodded slowly, then turned to look at Tony. "Thank you Tony," he said giving a faint smile.

Tony tried to return the smile as much as he could. "Anytime, buddy."

Dane looked at her mother. "I'm sorry mommy. Hope you're not mad at me" he said sadly.

Pepper looked at him in disbelief. "Mad at you? Why?"

Dane gave a look at Tony, then at his mother again. "Because I talked to Tony, and I know you don't like him, but try ... he is not so bad." Dane said.

Pepper smiled at Dane. "Okay, sweetheart, now go see grandma."

"Okay", he said smiling proudly, sure his mother would talk to Tony and probably like him by the end. "I'll see you Tony!" he exclaimed before running out the barn.

The smile faded on Pepper's face the second Dane left the barn. She waited to hear the door of the house opened and closed before staring harshly at Tony.

"Don't use my son to reach me!" she almost yelled.