widows_kiss | Appointments Post

[The corners of Pepper's mouth twitch upward in an attempt at a smile, but it's short-lived. The touch of another person offers little comfort, although Pepper's glad that Natasha at least seems to understand who's responsible. She nods to confirm it, then presses her lips together for a brief moment.]

I don't know how much there is to tell. [The events themselves are simple, but the concern runs so very deep.] We were at our house this morning. I was about to leave to go to the gallery when Tony told me to go into the bedroom and lock the door, so I did. And the next thing I knew, our living room was filled with droids.

[Natasha's lips are pressed into a thin line as she motions to the bartender, ordering herself a drink to match Pepper's, taking a long swallow when she gets it.]

This happens fairly frequently around here?

[She's heard it mentioned, but this is the first time it's someone she knows.]

It's the first time I've seen someone taken, but yes. [Her drink isn't as long as Natasha's, but it holds the same intent.] You've heard about Tony's project. [If not from Tony himself, then Clint or Steve. Pepper can't imagine Natasha doesn't know.]

They took Jane to try and get information about it. And Loki.

I've heard mention of it, yes, but not a lot of details. I know we were saving points for supplies, parts. Clint mentioned a little, but his eyes tend to glaze over when there's too much science being tossed about.

[She frowns at that information, her finger tracing the rim of her glass absently]

Loki is in on this as well? He failed to mention that part. [Although there was an obvious connection]

These disappearances... they last several days, typically?

There probably isn't much more that I can tell you. The concepts their dealing with are far beyond anything I ever learned.

[Pepper shakes her head slowly.] He's not really. Not by Tony's choice. Jane--there was an experiment where everyone lost their memories, or most everyone. Things got complicated with Jane and Loki.

[She waves a hand dismissively; it's not something Pepper really wants to go into, especially just then.]

It varies. But even if it's just a couple of days--[Her hand tightens on the glass, and Pepper's eyes stare off into some place distant. Seeing Jane starved in a hospital bed. Loki's arm, red and inflamed because of the stitches.]

[Natasha frowns, because that is information she wants to look into, although it's obvious that is the least of Pepper's worries at the moment. She didn't blame her. Still, it would be something to check out later. Perhaps she should seek out Jane after all...

When Pepper's gaze goes distant, Natasha reaches out and lays her hand on the woman's arm, her gaze understanding.]

Tony Stark is one of the most stubborn and tenacious men I have ever met. He will come back to you, Pepper. Knowing him, they might even send him back early, just to be rid of him. We can hope, anyway.

[The touch brings her back, and Pepper glances down at the hand on her arm. A moment later, she raises her own to touch it lightly in a silent gesture of thanks.]

I know. [Pepper has to believe Tony will come back. The idea that Tony would vanish, that she would really be alone in Luceti...Pepper can't afford to even entertain the notion.

Things are bad enough without throwing away the rest of her hope.]

It's how they'll send him back. [Her eyes close tightly, and Pepper can't keep her voice from trembling.] They're going to torture him.

[Natasha turns her hand, catches Pepper's fingers, gives a light squeeze.]

It's very possible.

[She's not going to lie to her, try to sugar-coat the truth. Pepper was too intelligent for that, and Natasha isn't the sort for meaningless platitudes. Perhaps she should have sent for Coulson. He was always better at comforting.]

Tony has survived that before. He came back and asked for a cheeseburger and then promptly set the world on its ass.

[That actually prompts her to laugh, because Pepper had of course seen it. She'd been the one to put together the press conference where Tony upset everything. He came back from captivity, hellish torture and all, and their lives had completely changed.

And for the better, at that. But even knowing it, living it, Pepper's laugh is short-lived and lacks joy.]

He promised. That he'd come back. [Pepper finishes off the last of her drink, then turns the empty glass in her hand.] And I promised I'd be there waiting.

Then he will.

[Natasha finishes her glass as well, emptying it and setting the glass back down with a quiet click.]

And so will you. But you don't have to stay there alone, if you don't want. Would you prefer some company? At least until Tony comes home?

[She gives Natasha a surprised look before her expression settles into a wry grin.]

Is it that obvious?

[Natasha gives her a crooked smile, her eyes warm and understanding.]

No, I'm just more observant than most. And sometimes it's easier, makes the time go faster, when you don't try and pass it alone.

So why don't we head back to your place and otherwise carry on as normal. We can have a girl's night.

[....Whatever that entailed. Natasha hadn't had much practice in those, but she assumed Pepper did.]

[Makes the time go faster. Her smile tightens, because Pepper already knows it's more than just that. And while she's pretty sure Natasha's capable of handling pretty much anything, she doesn't feel right not warning her at least.]

I don't think I'll be very good company, and I might keep you up awhile. I haven't really been sleeping well since the draft.

[Although there have been good nights--ones when she fell asleep in Tony's arms, and managed to rest the whole way through. But those are harder to come by even when he is there. Pepper's fully expecting nightmares now that he isn't.]

[Natasha's eyebrow arches upwards, because she's heard some details from Clint about the draft in general, but she hadn't heard anything about Pepper's involvement.]

The zombie event? You were there for that?

[That makes Pepper stop and stare helplessly at Natasha for a long moment. She'd assumed, at least unconsciously, that the woman would've been told about it by someone--but then again, maybe it's an unfair assumption to make.]

Yes. I was there. [She looks down, swallows in clear signs that simply being there is only the start of what happened. But she looks around the bar, and before Natasha can press for details, stands.] Let's head toward the house? I can tell you on the way.

[Natasha slides to her feet in a single easy movement, her head dipping in a slight nod.] Yes, let's.

And Pepper... [She pauses, taking a moment to search for the right words.] Everyone has things that haunt them. You don't have to apologize to me for that. We're only human, after all.

[Is that what she's apologizing for? Pepper isn't entirely certain, but she appreciates what Natasha is trying to say, along with what she's offered to do. She meets Natasha's gaze, just for a second or two, but long enough to add weight to her words.]

Thank you.

[That's all she says until they're outside, surrounded by the chill of Luceti's winter. Although she's told this story so many times, it's hard to think of just where to begin.]

What have you heard about that draft already? Just...so I'm clear.

Clint told me the basic details. What you were all brought in for, what happened while there. He talked about the hospital needing protection, getting overrun, the cure being found at the last minute. He told me there were people that got turned, infected. He told me Steve was one of them.

[The basics, just like she says. Pepper nods, glad that Natasha already knows about Steve.]

I went to see him, but by the time I got there, his mind was already gone. [Her eyes are on the path ahead of them, and Pepper wraps her arms around her front, holding herself as she gives the bare bones of what happened to her.]

He was being contained, but he got out. Bucky warned me to run, but I just...I froze. And then Steve saw me, and he came after me. Bucky had to shoot him.

[Had to kill him.]

I was too close. There were--fragments. Bone. They cut my arms, and I got infected.

[Natasha's steps falter at that, at the information given more than she anticipated, giving her a clearer picture of certain things, connecting loose threads. It was not a pretty picture.]

Well, shit.

[She reaches out, resting her hand against the back of Pepper's shoulder, the touch light, barely there. Her gaze searches the woman's face a moment.]

The cure?

Pretty much. [The two words come about as close to summing up the experience as any can.

The touch is welcome, and Pepper briefly glances over at Natasha, nodding when she asks about the cure.]

They found it on the 31st. I was infected on the 29th. But by that point, they'd developed something called a proto-cure. It didn't erase the infection or stop the symptoms, except for the mental deterioration. I was still myself.

[Pepper could think, and she could understand every horrible thing that happened to her. Every unspeakable act she wanted to do.]

Somehow, that doesn't sound as if it made anything better at all.

It kept me from attacking anyone. [She says it too quickly, perhaps. However small a thing that might seem, it had meant everything to Pepper when she felt the first pangs of hunger, had looked at people and felt an instinct to bite into them.

But for that one miracle, there had been a price.]

Tony stayed with me. [Stayed and watched her suffering, took all of it onto his own shoulders. Pepper swallows thickly, well aware of the blame Tony claimed for himself despite her mistakes--despite the hell they'd all been in.] Even after we heard about the bomb, he refused to leave.

Of course he did.

[It's said matter-of-factly, because for Natasha, it's not surprising at all. She'd watched them together, those months she'd worked for SI, observing both of them, seeing far more than perhaps even they had at the time.

She glances over, studying Pepper's face a moment.]

Despite being yourself, I can't imagine the infection was very pleasant. That's what disturbs your sleep?

[Pepper tightens her arms around herself. Maybe Natasha saw it as something obvious enough to go without saying, but Pepper carried the guilt of asking him all the same.]

Yeah. Sometimes I have nightmares, and they're so vivid, it's just like being back there. But Tony's there to wake me up.

[To hold her and remind her of what's real--except he won't be tonight.]

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