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“Miss Potts?”
Fridays voice cuts the silence of the desolate, empty compound, jolting pepper from her daze. She hasn't moved from her place in three days, merely watched the news. In a single second, the world fell apart. Everyone vanished.
Pepper looks away from the screen to adress Friday, feeling a familiar twist in her gut.
“Yes?”
“Miss Potts? Incoming message.”
“The whole world's screaming, Friday. Ignore it.”
“This message is from Sir.”
Pepper freezes. Something is happening in her chest, a tiny fluttering hatchling of hope crying feebly for the light. He’s alive.
“Put it on the tv.”
“I'm afraid that's not possible. There is no video. It is a old transmission, dated three days ago.”
“Play it then.”
There's a moment of static, then a tapping noise and then- tony's voice.
“This thing on?” there's a pause. “Hey miss potts. If you find this recording... don't feel bad about this. Part of the journey is the end. Just for the record, being adrift in space with zero promise of rescue is more fun than it sounds.
I'm not sure how long it'll take for me to- you know, kick the bucket and all that, but i'll keep sending these messages until i'm-
Until i'm gone.”
He goes silent, then laughs, harsh and hacking. “Maybe by the time you get this i'll be dead. Friday says it will take a few days to get to you, but i'll try anyway.
Peter- Peters gone. If you're there, tell his aunt. Strange is gone too. You've never met him, but he’s- he was- a wizard. Sort of. Anyway i can't stay on titan. It's falling to pieces, disintegrating. Ironic. I'm taking the guardians ship- you havent met them either- and maybe i can make it. Pretty bashed up though. The ship and me. My arms toast, suit is barely functioning. Life support went off a while ago. Not much food in this ship, but anyway.
I hope you get this message. If you didn't turn into dust. Oh god pep, i hope you didn't. I don't know what i'd do if you were gone.”
He chuckles humorlessly. “Although i suppose it's not much better if you're out there, hearing this, listening to me die.”
He makes a small noise, and weather his pain is emotional or physical pepper can't tell. She cries silently as he continues.
“Anyway- have i already said that?- i'll send you this, and another one tomorrow. Maybe you'll get it. I'll send my coordinates, if that helps. It's a vain hope, but when have i ever been anything but? Goodbye, pep. I hope-”
He takes a shuddering breath and pepper feels her chest constrict.
“I hope i see you again.”
The feed cuts off and pepper is left alone once more in the silence it leaves in its wake.
A little over a hour later she picks herself up, heading for the vault where tony keeps his suits. There's one here that tony built for deep space. She knows because she told him not to bother building it. He wouldn't need it.
Turns out she would.
The suit is grey and deep blue, with silver accents. There's only one of them, equipped with life support and self replicating oxygen, but she’ll only need one. She turns on a mark IV suit as well, engaging it's own life support. It will be enough to get tony home, to keep him alive.
The deep space suit doesn't have many weapons capabilities other than the repulsor, but she doesn't need them. It's designed for speed.
She’ll need it if shes to get to him in time.
She steps into the suit, and as the grey and silver visor snaps shut over her face, fridays voice fills her ears.
“Miss potts, i have received the coordinates of Sirs location. Should i program the autopilot in your suit?”
“Thanks Friday. Do it for the the other suit too.”
“Of course.”
Mere minutes finds her launching off the helipad at the empty facility, followed by the spare suit. Seconds later finds both suits exiting the brilliant blue dome of the upper atmosphere and entering the twilight zone, an area of in between- the emerald and sapphire of the earth beneath them, the velvet and onyx diamonds of space above them.
Soon that's all they can see.
Several hours into the flight Friday cuts through the utter, enveloping silence with another message.
“Ma’am, there's another message from Sir.”
“Play it, Friday.”
Tony's ragged breathing comes over the comms, and he's having trouble breathing. “Don't worry too much pepper,” he says, automatically making pepper worry. “I just reset my shoulder. It was dislocated from the fight.” eventually his breathing calms down enough so he can speak normally. “Other than that, i'm actually quite fine. There's food and water for a few days, i think. I don't know, it's space food. The air is a bit worse though.
I've been thinking a lot. I don't know even if you're out there, listening, but i've been thinking about us. Us. that's a weird word. It's… soft. I like it. Anyway, i've decided, if i get back- no no, i wont think like that. When. when i get back. When i get back, we have to get married right away. I don't want to wait anymore, waiting for me to screw up inevitably. Done and dusted. We can get a house, i'll give up iron man. God knows i want to give it up now.”
He's quiet. “I guess i'll send another message tomorrow. Goodbye pep.”
It's silent again, and all pepper is aware of is the tightening knot of pain in her chest, sobs threatening to overtake her.
But she keeps flying.
A hour later another message comes through. The closer they get, the closer together the messages come.
This time, peppers expecting tears, but tony is calm voiced, almost monotone.
“Guess i overestimated on the food and water a bit, didn't i. Water ran out this morning. Food… probably gonna be gone tonight. Air will be gone in a day, maybe a day and a half. I'm gonna keep sending these though. It helps me stay sane.
I wonder what you’re doing. I mean, if you’re dead, nothing. If you’re not… pepper, i don't know what to say.”
“Remember that time i told you nothing would ever be ok? I thought it was just something to say, and then… then i started to hope that maybe we would be. I guess i was wrong. Nothing will ever be ok.
I’ll send another tomorrow.”
The message ends, followed immediately by another one. Pepper can see a tiny speck floating through space a few hundred miles away on her scanners.
Tony’s sobbing, or close to it.
“They took peter, pep. Oh god, they took peter. Right in front of me. He was pleading with me, begging me to help him. He didn't want to go I couldn’t- i couldn’t do anything. I'm never going to stop hearing him, seeing him.” he’s quiet except for a few hitching breaths, then pepper realizes he’s crying. “Oh god pep, what if i never make it back. I never told you i loved you one last time. I guess i’ll say it now. I love you.”
There's a twinge in her stomach and she grimaces. Not now.
There's a few minutes between the messages, but when another one pops up she bites her lip. She can't do this.
The message plays.
“Food and water went out two days ago.” tony's breaths are labored. He heaves a sigh. “Oxygen should run out tomorrow morning. And that’ll be it. And when i drift off i’ll dream about you. It's always you.”
The message ends, and peppers crying again.
But the tiny speck had become a definite shape, and pepper knows she’s found him.
She just hopes she's not too late.