Echoes

"How long before I can have the labs set up in the desert for testing?" Tony tapped his fingers on his coffee table as he flipped through files in the air in front of him. The past few days had been a roller coaster. He'd finally gathered the courage to approach his company from the standpoint of a CEO again. Now that he'd opened the floodgates he was trudging through a sea of dodged responsibilities and miscommunications.

He was lucky that Pepper was as skilled a businesswoman as she was quite frankly. But there had been certain things that he hadn't warned her about how to handle and had become quite the tangled mess. Particularly with the energy project. There were parts of Stark Industries that were still being torn down. Weapons manufacturing plants had to be repurposed and old allies had to be included as to not sever ties and burn bridges. Tony had spent the last 48 hours on the phone, planning future dinners and mending severed fences.

Eventually he'd grown weary of the basement he'd spent the past few months in. He needed change and fresh air. For awhile he'd sat on the deck outside, blasted some music while he trudged through paperwork. Pepper came and went as usual and only interacted with him when she needed something. There were a few times he'd been tempted to ask her to sit with him and sort out a few of the business things she'd been in charge of but he'd shied away from it. It would surely lead to another fight and it seemed the two of them had been avoiding the inevitable. Or at least, Tony liked to think that was the case. He had no idea what was going on in Pepper's head these days.

After it had begun to rain, Tony made his way inside and had stayed there even the next day. His home was finally starting to feel like his again. For awhile he'd felt trapped and he hadn't realized that until he'd finally left the damn basement! It wasn't anyone's fault but his own, he knew that, but regardless it felt nice to regain a bit of his freedom. Maybe he should have felt silly to consider moving into his living room an accomplishment but he did. Jarvis had agreed that it had been something worthy of praise and had even offered to get him a drink to celebrate the occasion.

Since then, Tony had continued to sort out the chaos that had become Stark Industries. If he was going to make a big business deal with Refuge then he needed things to be as orderly as possible. He didn't want Scarlett to think he'd completely crumbled under the weight of his anxiety. Not that he'd felt judged by her, not at all. Maybe he wanted to impress her with how together things were. If nothing else, Tony most definitely wanted her to feel welcome at Stark Industries. If she was going to come by Malibu and get the lay of the land then he was going to do his best to make it seem as enticing as possible. Once he set his mind to something, and really set his mind to it, there was no stopping Tony Stark.

He wasn't sure why he needed to work with Refuge. Maybe it was because it was the first thing that had gotten him out of his house in months. Or maybe it was because the connection he could feel with Scarlett. Whatever it was, he wanted to make it happen. Tony was used to getting what he wanted and while he'd been unsure of what he'd wanted for the months past, the fog was finally lifting. It wasn't that he was less terrified just that he no longer felt so crippled by that fear. Tony was a fighter and somewhere along the line he'd forgotten just how strong he could be.

"Jarvis, did you hear something?" Tony lifted his head and the music died down as he spoke as if to give him a better listen.

"Tony?" Pepper was calling to him from somewhere inside the house. "Tony, where are you? We need to talk."

"Maybe I should go back downstairs." Tony whispered and Jarvis made a big frowning face in the air in front of him. Waving it away, Tony cleared his throat and spoke louder. "In here, Pepper."

"Look at this." Pepper was holding a magazine and moving it so much that Tony couldn't see the cover of it clearly. "Look, I told you she was trouble! You didn't believe me but here, right here!" Pepper hadn't been avoiding Tony for the reasons that he'd suspected. Instead she'd been trying to dig up dirt on Refuge so she could try to talk him out of the impending business deal. She'd been asked by every form of media what was going on with the partnership and had no answers to give. Instead she had to tell them to ask Tony, to ask Scarlett, because she had no say on the matter. It took every shred of her self control not to say just what she really thought of the situation.

"It's blurry, can you please stand still? I can't read it while you're flailing with it. Are you trying to show it to me or hit me with it? I can't tell." Tony stood and Pepper held out the gossip magazine for him to read. Tony took it from her hands and at once felt alarmed. There was a picture of Scarlett stepping out of a black car looking particularly worse for wear. The picture quality was so poor, however, that it was hard to tell whether or not it was the lighting or if it had been doctored. The headline alluded to the fact that Scarlett had been admitted for an overdose of some kind and had her stomach pumped.

"She collapsed a few nights ago and had to be rushed to some medical facility in Boston. One of the nurses there reported to the paper after she left! This is the picture she took with her phone. She's an addict, Tony! An addict and a bad influence! You don't need that right now." Pepper allowed Tony to take the magazine and watched as he flipped through the pages. "The last thing Stark Industries needs is that kind of reputation hanging on it. We just got through yours, didn't we? This company has taken enough hits."

"Look, it's just what these papers do, you know that! There's no confirmed anything, just conjecture from a source they can't even properly quote. There are even typos, Pepper." Tony flipped open the article and pointed to the first paragraph. "They used to do it to me all the time."

"I'm giving you a real reason not to work with her and it's still not enough." Pepper scowled. "You said that I had no good reason so I found reasons!"

"This isn't a real reason, Pepper."

"How is that not a real reason?"

"You know how those reporters are! They do that crap all the time! They did it to me for years! Tabloid gossip is just that."

"They weren't always wrong either, Tony."

"But they always blew it out of proportion when it had a grain of truth hidden in the story. I couldn't possibly have a cold or there was a chance I was on my death bed! Even now, look at what this very same paper says about me in this article." Tony flipped the pages open and pointed to a chunk of text. "They theorize I was in rehab! Rehab Pepper? That's crazy!"

"Look, something obviously happened to prompt the story and I know that! I know that these papers take the stories to the extreme but somewhere there's always a glimmer of the truth. You know that as well as I do. If it isn't drugs, it's something else. For all you know she's doing something illegal. You're just willing to jump right into bed with this woman without doing any of the research."

"First of all, you know just how much research I do before getting into bed with people and that's none." Tony attempted a joke but Pepper's eye twitched so he quickly abandoned the attempt. "I did the research. Trust me, I've done more research than I usually do for this kind of thing. Refuge is a solid company and Scarlett is a solid colleague. You have to trust me on this one. Please." Tony didn't ask much from Pepper these days. If he could appeal to that part of her that he was sure was still in there somewhere maybe they stood a chance. Right now Pepper was hurt. It was different with their relationship the way it was. If maybe, just maybe, they could slowly transition back to being friends it wouldn't be such a nightmare. Tony had high hopes even though there was no evidence to support friendship was still an option.

"Trust you?" Pepper shook her head and for a moment considered it. But that bitterness still clung inside of her.

"That's all I'm asking."

"This isn't about trust, Tony."

"How isn't it about trust?" Tony scowled. "Of course it's about trust! You don't trust me to run my own company, you don't trust me to do anything anymore. While we're being honest here, why don't we really get to the point of this. You're jealous. You don't want me working with her because you're jealous."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know why you're jealous. Whether it's because of how she looks, all the attention she gets, or the fact that you didn't think to approach Refuge first, you're jealous." Tony rolled his eyes. "So don't feed me this garbage about trying to do what's best for my company."

"She's not good for Stark Industries." Pepper's voice cracked and Tony knew he hit the nail on the head. "And she's most certainly not good for you."

"And what would you know about what's good for me? Because I think I'm doing loads better than I was even a week ago so tell me how this isn't good for me."

"You're still not sleeping, are you? You get like this when you don't sleep. Your attitude is just..." Pepper groaned in frustration as if to express exactly what it was.

"No, I didn't sleep but you know why I didn't sleep?" Tony waited for her to respond but she just stood there. She racked her mind but couldn't think of any other reason than that it was just the way Tony was these days. "That's right, you don't care. You never cared. I tried to tell you and you didn't care. So don't tell me what's good for me when you don't care."

"I do care, Tony! I absolutely care! What am I supposed to not sleep because you can't? One of us has to be functioning to run Stark Industries."

"I haven't been sleeping and I'm doing just fine." Tony turned away from her and set down the magazine on the coffee table, on top of a pile of files that he'd had to dig out of storage. Pepper stared at Tony as he went about his work. He was shaking. Or was she just hallucinating? She'd never seen Tony as mad as he'd been over the past few days. Usually he cracked jokes or ignored the problem until he could fix it on his own. Ever since he'd gone out with Rhodey and become consumed with Refuge he'd been different.

And then he'd accused her of not caring? How dare he? He'd been her best friend at one point! When she'd thought he'd died in the Middle East it had torn her apart. She'd lost her friend and confidant! The more she thought about it the more she realized that had changed. Not either of them but their relationship. Maybe he was right.

She hadn't cared.

Guilt washed over her as she realized that he'd been reaching out to her and she had pushed him away. Maybe he'd needed her and she hadn't seen it. He'd definitely needed her but she'd been so consumed with trying to keep Stark Industries and her life afloat, that she'd forgotten the man who had everything might need a hand getting back on his feet. Was she really willing to help pick him back up?

No. Not as his girlfriend she wasn't. Pepper couldn't stand the idea of having to stay up all night to cater to fears he wouldn't even share with her. Pepper couldn't bring herself to condone the violence that came with the Iron Man weapons. It was one thing when she had to clean up his messes in a professional setting but a completely different one when it became personal. Where was the line between work and life? There was none anymore. It had all become work.

"I'm not concerned about Scarlett being an addict." Tony pointed to the magazine when he realized Pepper wasn't leaving but she also didn't have anything to say. "The media did it to me for years. I'm a good judge of character, Pepper. If I sense that something's amiss with her I won't hesitate to put the axe on this deal. You don't have to trust me, okay? But you do have to listen to me. I'm CEO of Stark Industries and what I say goes."

Pepper opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"Miss Potts? Mr. Hogan has arrived to pick you up for your afternoon meeting." Jarvis spoke politely and sure enough, only moments later, Happy Hogan stepped into the room. He'd put on a bit of weight since Tony had last seen him but overall he seemed in good spirits.

"Hey, Pepper I stopped by that place you like and picked up some cronuts..." He stopped when he saw Tony also in the living room and for once didn't know what to say. He didn't even have a greeting for him.

"Hogan." Tony nodded at his old driver and could have sworn the man looked away from him. A knot tied right in the middle of Tony's stomach.

"Tony, I haven't seen you in a long time... you, uh... doing okay?"

"Just great." Tony nodded toward Pepper. "Go. I know you want to." Tony didn't look back at either one of them again. He didn't want to. Was he jealous? Not of Happy, he was sure. He was just jealous that both of his friends had basically abandoned him. Maybe it was unfounded or maybe it wasn't. Right now Tony didn't care. He had other things to worry about.

"Are you okay?" Happy mouthed and nodded toward Tony. Pepper was tempted to stay behind and watched as Tony flipped through digital files in the air in front of him but then shook her head and offered him a smile. Happy looked to Tony then reached for Pepper's hand with a comforting squeeze. "Come on, we're going to be late."

"You're right." Pepper didn't say another word to Tony but instead kept her hand in Happy's and walked out of the Malibu Mansion. Tony waited until he heard the sound of the door and even then waited until several moments had passed.

"Jarvis, are they gone?"

"Yes, Mr. Hogan's car has left the premises." Jarvis sounded hesitant. Tony wondered sometimes what the robot's opinion was on the whole situation. But he never asked and Jarvis never said a word. It was probably for the best. Tony didn't need another person to argue with. He didn't have anyone left in his corner, it seemed. He'd alienated himself from those who had mattered most.

That sadness was creeping in on him again. Maybe he should go downstairs and try to sort out his thoughts while working on his suits. It made him feel less lonely to be down there. He sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh and slumped low so he lay nearly flat with the exception of his legs hanging off the edge. Lazily he groped for the files on the coffee table and instead he picked up the magazine he'd thrown on top of it.

Slowly he opened the pages and flipped through it again. There were a few stories about tumultuous celebrity relationships, body augmentations, and supposed revealed secrets of the rich and famous. Tony both understood and didn't understand that kind of media. How boring an ordinary person's life must be to find the need to live vicariously through people they likely would never get the chance to meet.

He stopped when he got to the story about Scarlett and read the article more thoroughly. There were a few pictures that looked like they'd been taken with a poor quality cell phone camera but they offered him little to no insight. Apparently there had been no report to the police or any official medical records left behind. It was likely a bullshit story.

Likely.

As Pepper said, these stories were usually formed from a very small grain of truth. He did not think Scarlett was a functioning drug addict.

Tony sat up, which took far more effort than he expected from such an odd position and then closed the magazine and placed it on his lap. Hands on top of it, a laser grid keyboard glowed beneath his fingers allowing him to type freely. He could summon it on almost any flat surface in his home. The coffee table itself would become a screen if he really wanted it to. Right now, this would do.

He searched for the article in the very magazine he tapped away on and soon he found many in relation to it. It seemed every news media outlet, credible and less than credible had a similar story. There had been reports that Scarlett had mysteriously fallen ill and had been seen the day after looking rather under the weather. No statements had been released by Scarlett or her PR agents.

Tony scowled.

No response meant one of two things. Either there was so little validity to the claim it was left to fizzle out on its own. Or, and this was what alarmed Tony, they were avoiding giving any validity to the claim because something did happen.

Suddenly Tony needed to know what happened that night. There was no explaining why, he just did.

He checked the dates again.

Monday.

Wasn't that the night he'd talked to her all night long on the phone? Like some high school kid infatuated with a crush? He'd tried to tell himself it wasn't like that but somehow it still felt like that.

Had that been why she'd been awake when he called her at such an ungodly hour? His stomach turned. If she had been sick why hadn't she mentioned it? Hospitalization seemed like a pretty significant thing to mention. Then again, she barely knew him so what reason did she really have to tell him? Tapping his finger repeatedly on the magazine, Tony ran his tongue over his teeth and made an obnoxious noise between them.

"I should stop looking."

"Absolutely." Jarvis responded.

"I wasn't looking for validation."

"Well someone should."

"Not you."

"You're obsessing."

"What else is new?" Tony scoffed and then continued his search against Jarvis' recommendation. An hour later and at last Tony leaned back to view his work. In front of him were a dozen stories all covering the same topic: Scarlett's mysterious collapse. Most of the theories discussed were absolutely ridiculous. He couldn't help but be reminded of his own press. Currently the media thought something terrible had happened to him too.

Then again, there was some truth to that. Tony had gone through a trauma. He wasn't sure how true it was, in fact he was still figuring it out. Still, the ideas that reporters came up with were sometimes very amusing. While many stories had scared the hell out of him, a few of them had been so ridiculous Tony had gotten a good laugh.

"Are you trying to narrow down the cause, sir?"

"Most of this doesn't make any sense." Tony shook his head and pointed to one in particular that had made him laugh out loud several times. "Pregnant? Really? A woman that smart doesn't get knocked up on accident. I met her. She was drinking, she's not pregnant."

"Shall we discard it sir?" Jarvis tempted Tony with a set of virtual bowling pins at the far end of the room.

"Absolutely." Tony chuckled, crumbled up the digital article and then tossed it across the room. With a clatter each pin fell over and the word "strike" floated in the air in various flashing colors. "Still got it!"

"Bravo, sir."

"Thank you. Reset the pins, Jarvis, there's a lot of crap to go through!" Tony laughed and picked up another paper. "Fatigue, my ass. I saw her that afternoon she was fine. Then she was on the phone with me until you basically tucked me in."

"You slept like a baby, sir."

"I don't know how I feel about you putting it like that..."

"That's too bad."

"I missed your sarcasm, Jarvis."

"And I yours, sir."

"Alright, so we've got drug abuse which Pepper really clung onto, right? She didn't even know when I was out of my head so we can't really trust her judgment."

"It isn't an unreasonable assumption. There are many high powered business men and women who are completely functioning addicts."

"This is not functioning." Tony pulled the article out of the air in front of him. "We're not even sure she actually collapsed."

"And yet here we are investigating it like she is. The odds that this many news sources would be this ill informed is very slim. Something happened, we just don't know what."

"You're right." Tony rolled the virtual article again and grimaced as half the pins clattered aside. "7-10 split. Just my luck."

"We're running out of options, sir."

"What about this one?" Tony pulled up the small article of the underground newspaper. It wasn't very reputed, but it had a cult following. From what Tony could tell it wasn't filled with the same tabloid garbage the other magazines force fed to the public. There were actual stories. "Scarlett Damien greets me on the steps of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building and assures me once again that there is nothing wrong with her. I've asked her on multiple occasions what she does at those meetings but with her charm she manages to subvert my attention. This time is no different. Even as weary as she seems on this particular gray Boston day, she manages to charm a smile out of me and convince me that she's doing just fine."

Tony browsed through the article. It was well written and interesting, but Tony wasn't entirely convinced this proved anything was wrong with Scarlett.

"It is undeniable that there are reports of a collapse or a medical incident of some kind the day prior but she isn't willing to discuss it and I am not dumb enough to ask. Instead I look and I see a woman who is struggling with something. In theory I think that she's retrieving a treatment at this S.H.I.E.L.D. facility for something she will not reveal to the public. Either that or something from her notorious and unknown past has caught up with her."

"Well, that's all very interesting." Jarvis seemed to be considering the story. "Still no facts and all conjecture."

"But she seems well informed and smart." Tony continued reading the article to himself until it was over with. "Seems she writes about Scarlett quite frequently. I'm mentioned in here too. She asked about the impending deal and Scarlett said she's seriously considering it but didn't have an answer which... is true. At least the certainties reported by this woman are factual."

"So this one won't be finishing up our little round of bowling, then?"

"I'm afraid not. What's the reporter's name?"

"A Mrs. Dianne Hendricks, it seems."

"Get her information. Maybe she'll be willing to talk to me."

"I'm going to advise against this."

"Why?"

"Don't you think Miss Damien deserves some level of privacy? If she wants to tell you what happened then I imagine she will. You said it yourself, she barely knows you. You're obsessing, sir. If you don't want to drive away this deal with Refuge, I recommend you push this to the back of your mind."

"Yeah, okay, that's going to happen." Tony grimaced and sat back down on the couch. He tucked the article away for the future and did follow Jarvis' advice despite his objections. Jarvis was right. Tony was obsessing. He was nosy. Also he was weirdly worried. Or at least he thought he was worried.

Why was he worried?

Tony didn't know.

"Wasn't I doing something before this all started?"

"Yes, sir. You were working."

"Oh, right. I guess I should keep doing that." Tony snapped his fingers and the screens popped to life one by one in front of him. He would trudge through more work for Stark Industries, but his mind was never truly on point after that. One way or another, Tony would get to the bottom of the story even if it meant having to ask Scarlett what was going on. Only now he would wait until he was sure she would be working with him before he dug too deeply.