Chapter Text
They were the last ones who were still at the cabin. Even Happy had left about an hour ago to take the Parkers home. Now as Pepper tried to wrangle her children into getting ready to go to bed, Monica found herself stepping outside into the quickly growing dark. She paused just a second to make use of the moon’s light to confirm what she suspected, then she started to walk towards the dock.
She stopped just short of the dock, wanting to observe the man she loved more than anything before she joined him. Her husband was standing facing towards the lake which meant his back was towards her, and his arms were crossed she was sure since she couldn’t them. It was quickly getting darker, almost to the point it was black out, so it took her a second or so to realize his shoulders were trembling.
“Oh my… James?” she said hurrying to cross the remaining distance between them. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders when she reached him, and had to double down on the tears in her eyes when he turned away to keep her from seeing his face.
"Oh honey, don't do this," Monica murmured gently, "Please don't try to hide your pain from me." He didn't look at her or respond to her in the least little bit, and so she tried again, "You've were so strong today, James..."
Aside from not being able to keep his tears at bay during the time they had watched Tony's last message, he had been okay. Oh there were a few times when she had looked at him she could see he was struggling to clamp down on his emotions, but for the most part this day hadn't seemed all that bad on him given what day it was.
She had finally saw him start to crumble again while they had both been watching Pepper talking quietly to her children. Monica isn’t sure what precisely her husband saw during that exchange to set off his emotions. But there had been a definite moment when she heard a small, sharp intake of breath by him, and she knew he must have seen one or both of the kids do something that had reminded him of the brother he had laid to rest that afternoon.
"Please, please , just let me hold you and let go," she murmured, hoping he would do what she said instead of continuing to try to fight. For just a little longer, it did seem like he wouldn’t, and Monica felt her heart further shatter., But then he turned around towards her, and what she feared would could true actually came true. The depth of pain she saw in her husband’s eyes made her feel like she was staring into an abyss that she would never find her way out of again. She did the only thing she knew to do in response, which was to pull him fully into her arms, and hold him a tightly as her strength would allow her to.
She cupped the back of his head when she felt him start to pull away, and guided it to rest on her shoulder, "Go ahead and cry or scream or whatever you need to do to let the pain out. I'm here, James. I'm here . I love you, and I'm not going anywhere."
"FRIDAY, have Jim and Monica left yet?"
Pepper's soft question came when a particularly loud crackle in the fire had jerked her out of her thoughts. She didn't know how long it had been since she had curled up on the couch but she sensed it had been awhile.
"No, ma'am, they are outside together on the dock."
"What are they doing?"
"I believe they are talking. Would you like for me to see if I can discern what they're talking about?"
Her eyes widened and she shook her head, "No! Of course not! I don't want to invade their privacy!" It had been nine years since FRIDAY had been brought online but she didn't have the experience JARVIS had had and so there were still moments where she was still learning.
"Let me know when they--"
"I am sorry for interrupting you, ma'am, but General and Mrs. Rhodes are walking towards the house." A short time later when she heard the door open, she turned around to find them both in the doorway. Of course, she didn't fail to notice their fingers were intertwined... or that Rhodey's eyes looked a bit swollen and red.
"Hey," Monica started slowly, "we're uh about to head home."
Pepper nodded, pushing aside the throw she had over her legs, and then got up to go over to them. She went to Monica first because the other woman had her arms open, ready to give her a hug.
"You call us if you need anything ," she said into Pepper's ear, holding her a little longer than she normally would after she felt Pepper trembling a little bit.
"I will," the still freshly made widow returned in a dull voice that did little to disguise the pain she was trapped in.
"I mean it, Pepper. We want you to call us if you need us," she repeated as she pulled back and looked at her.
There was what could only be described as an obligatory nod of her head she turned to the man who had been her husband's closest friend, and before either of them could blink, Pepper's arms were wrapped tightly around him.
Their hug was shorter than Monica would have expected to be between them but then she knew her husband was reaching the end of his emotional rope for the day. He needed to sleep, and hopefully escape his grief during those hours. She watched as he pulled back, dropped his arms, and gave Pepper a nod that she knew said everything he didn’t trust himself to say right now. With that he reached out for her hand again, and they turned to leave.
Pepper wrapped her arms around herself, then she followed them to the door, and watched as they descended the porch steps calling out, “Be careful on your way home, and please let me know when you get there?”
They looked back at her, with Monica voicing a response, “We will. I’ll text you!”
A nod, then after a short pause, “I… I love you both!”
Rhodey looked back at her, their eyes meeting as he managed to get out, “Love you too!”