Work Text:
Dear Mr Stark,
I would like to inform you that I’m resigning from my position as your Personal Assistant as I can no longer burden myself with such stress. I know it hasn’t been long since I started but this job just isn’t right for me since we are very different persons and don’t work well together.
Thank you for the opportunities you have provided me. Please let me know if there is anything I can do during this transition period.
Thank you for respecting my decision.
Sincerely,
Virginia Potts
P:S: As it seems I can’t get myself to send this email as it’s been in my drafts for a few days now. Something about this job makes me want to stay even though I can’t lay a finger on what it is. It is interesting and different from any other job I have ever had. It’s hard work since I have to do the many things you simply refuse to do when you’re behaving like a child but it’s also kind of lovely. Please don’t ask me in what way I mean that, I don’t know. You are a fascinating person to work with, unprofessional and mostly behaving inappropriate and I’d probably never admit it, but that’s the part that makes it better in some complicated way than most jobs. It’s less boring and more exhausting. I guess everything has advantages and disadvantages.
Don’t think I wouldn’t send this email just because I’m hesitating now (not that you will ever read this part anyways I just had to say it.)
—
Dear Mr Stark,
I know that I have already expressed my concern about your wellbeing today but I couldn’t let it go so I decided to send you this mail as a reminder to go to sleep earlier today as you appear to have a meeting with the board at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning and your presence is required. Please also think of my words earlier about your unhealthy amount of caffeine consumption and ask JARVIS to remind you to eat from time to time since coffee isn’t considered food.
I am sorry if you consider this email as inappropriate (not that you would read it anyways) but I am truly concerned that your risky and irresponsible lifestyle will have long-term consequences. I do care about your health as well as anything else.
Please be there tomorrow and please be on time. Take care of yourself and see you tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Pepper Potts
—
Dear Tony Stark,
I am aware that you will never read this email as I don’t plan to ever actually send it but I just have to say it.
I do like you, I know I sometimes convince you of the opposite but I’ve grown oddly fond of you. More than I ever expected but that isn’t from relevance.
I think you are a very intelligent person, the brain of yours is truly fascinating and the way you’re coming up with new ideas for weapons every other month is impressing.
I must say that you still are a very immature person at times and I still don’t appreciate your attempts of flirting with me since it makes my heart race. This isn’t something I should be telling you but you won’t read this email anyways.
To my concern I like your immature and irresponsible parts just as much even though they’re more often than not really exhausting.
I don’t think, even in case you would like me the same way, we could last in a relationship at least not yet. If we had to break up I don’t think I’d be able to continue my work here so it’s better to not say anything at all. I just had to tell you that you are a remarkable person and worth loving every way even though there have been people in your life that tried to tell you otherwise. Don’t listen to them, don’t even listen to me, just acknowledge the fact that you deserve love.
I have no right to and I’m a bit embarrassed by it so please forgive me for sounding informal and inappropriate but I think I am in love with you, Tony Stark.
Sincerely,
Pepper Potts.
PS: I sound so pathetic, thank God, you will never read this!
—
Tony,
I know I will probably sound informal now but it doesn’t matter anyways. You are far far away from here, somewhere in Afghanistan, maybe not even alive anymore.
I don’t know where to begin so I will just start with whatever I can think of first.
I cannot sleep at the moment and as I’m writing this it’s 01:16 a.m. and I know I always say you should get sleep before midnight but ever since I was informed you got captured I can’t fall asleep. I have to think about where you are, if you’re in some cave or old house, being tortured or forced to do something or maybe already dead. I can’t sleep like that so I just work until I pass out from exhaustion. Is this why you’re down in the workshop that often? Because you can’t turn your head off so you start tinkering? God, now I wish I would have asked you about it and wish I would have cared more.
I’m sorry, Tony. I’m so so sorry.
All I ever did was pressure you to do your work and to keep the company going and never asked if you’re alright. It isn’t that I don’t care about you, I do, more than I probably should. I just never knew how to voice my feelings and I thought before I send you signals I don’t want to send I just don’t say anything that could get interpreted and therefore I never asked anything personal. I now wish I had.
The house is way too huge and too empty without you. Funny because only a month ago I wished for you to be quiet and now I want nothing more than you rambling about things I don’t understand. I think DUM-E and U are sad too, they haven’t moved since you disappeared and JARVIS has gone quiet too. He only answers when directly spoken to.
Mr Stane suggested I’d stay in the mansion since the press is everywhere and I’d be more protected withing reach of you security alarms. I’m staying in the guests room now. I hope you are okay with this.
I’ve been in your room once since your disappearance. It’s almost the only room that isn’t messy though I don’t know how you managed to keep your room clean. You probably spend too little time actually sleeping in your own bed rather than in the workshop. When you return I will make sure you will go to sleep more regularly.
It’s only been a few weeks but I miss you.
Things got a lot more complicated with you getting captured. Mr Stane is running the company now. He isn’t too convinced you’d come back which makes me hopeless. He should have a bit more faith in you. I know you wouldn’t give up without fighting!
I’m feeling more tired now so I will go to sleep.
Wherever you are, please come back soon.
Good night,
Pepper
PS: I just found this in my drafts. It’s been two and a half months now. Only a few hours ago, Mr Stane told me you were declared as dead. He took over the company and asked me to work as his assistant. I declined the offer of course. I don’t think Stane and I could work well together.
Tony, I’m starting to feel hopeless. Where are you? I know you’re not dead, you can’t be! So why aren’t you coming back? I wish this email would’ve reached you but I know it would be useless to try. I tried to call you like crazy the first few days and I already knew then that it was useless.
I won’t show up to your “funeral”. Not before I have proof that you are not alive anymore.
Just come back, please!
—
Dear Mr Stark,
“I am Iron Man”
Are you serious? This was the worst idea you probably ever had and this is coming from someone who’s used to your bad ideas. You can imagine that I’m mad at the moment.
It’s way too late again but I can’t stop myself from thinking about what your little revelation means for all of us. I will have so much more work to do! And on top I will always be scared you will get yourself killed out there. The government will probably have to make new laws about your suit and I’ll be the one to do the paperwork while wondering if you come back from this “mission” as well. I could not experience a time like Afghanistan again. I know I’m selfish right now, I’m sorry.
You also stopped sleeping again. I can understand it, it’s probably even harder now, after Afghanistan and getting betrayed by Stane and after that fight. I still wished you would sleep more often. Right now I’m staying at the mansion and can hear you working downstairs. I think I’m getting used to the sound. You should still stop running on caffeine, Tony.
I want to say that I’m also proud of you. Very proud. You’ve come so far, you’ve changed and I like the new you even better. You’re less selfish and careless. You still forgot my birthday though, but I guess one can’t have everything, right?
I’m tired, Tony, very tired. This job is exhausting. When I started writing this email I was thinking about writing (another) resignation letter. But only the thought made me somewhat sick. It’s been more than a decade now and I don’t know who I’d be without this job anymore. I’d rather work myself to death than quit. Look at that, what have I become?
Do you still think about that one night when you went to get me a drink and never returned? I do think about it. A lot more often than I’d like to admit. But I never thanked you for respecting my decision when I didn’t kiss you and asked for a drink instead. You could have just kissed me anyways and you didn’t, so thank you. I believe I wasn’t quite ready or maybe you weren’t. I think that maybe we would have ruined everything by kissing.
Before that press conference you said if you were a superhero you’d have a girlfriend. Were you referring to me or am I overthinking it? It doesn’t matter since you will never read this email as well. Maybe I should make a new folder with emails i can’t send.
Go to sleep soon!
Sincerely,
Pepper
—
Oh Tony,
Here I am again, writing an email with things I cannot say to you right now. You’re out there somewhere with the Avengers, trying to talk about these accords but I don’t know much about it since we haven’t talked in almost a month, can you imagine? I know we said it was nobody’s fault but that’s bullshit and we both know it. It was both our fault. You were so much away lately and I think I felt replaced. And you felt misunderstood by me. We could have done better than that. Guess at some point everyone could.
Being with you can be so frustrating. You don’t listen. And you’re always so caught up by that whole superhero stuff. I know I was okay with that when I agreed to commit a relationship with you but it’s even more exhausting than I imagined it to be. It doesn’t change the fact that I love being with you, just not right now.
Just know that I miss you. I will never admit it and to be honest I’m also a bit glad to have some time to get things sorted out but I don’t want to or can stay like that forever. I hope you will agree that we should get back together sooner or later.
When we were fighting before, I thought about our first kiss or our first date. The way we were both so nervous was hilarious. The way we talked about our kiss and you asked me to be your girlfriend. I must say it was very in character - you being all “of course you want to be my girlfriend” and me putting you in place. But beneath it all, we were both nervous. After that I never had to be nervous with you. You are everything I wanted. I guess you still are but we need this break. No matter how much you love water you can still drown in it.
This doesn’t make any sense, does it? I guess I’m a business woman and not a poet after all.
I am mad at you but I can’t help but wonder if you are okay. I’m still worried. I’ve always been and probably always will. Please tell me you are not in danger. I know that the chances are high that you talked yourself into a fight - as you often did with me. At the end of the day please make sure you come home.
It’s always been you after all.
I can’t believe I just typed that. Once more, I’m glad you’re never going to read this. It would only feed your ego anyways.
Just promise me we’ll try again!
Sincerely,
Pepper.
—
Hey,
Tony.
I really don’t know what to say.
I used to be so formal when writing mails to you but look at this now. I don’t even know what formal is anymore.
I know I said we’d be okay but… I’m not so sure about that anymore.
I miss you terribly. Today was the first day I woke up without you beside me. I almost forgot it happened, I hoped it was a dream. When I saw your empty space I almost started to cry. I tried to be strong today, for Morgan. But being strong is so hard when it feels like a part of me is just … gone.
I made you a cup of coffee before I realized that you wouldn’t drink it. You will never drink coffee again. God, this is not fair, none of this is! It shouldn’t be you. I’m not saying any of the other would deserve it but you’ve done enough for them, you’ve given your whole life to them even before you took that goblet and now you had to die for them too. You died for all of us, I know. I still don’t want it to be true.
I know I said I’d take the risk and I’m glad I did, I really am. I’m glad that I kissed you on that roof that night. I’m glad I said yes when you asked me to be your girlfriend. I’m glad for every minute, every second I got to spend with you even if you were so annoying at times. I don’t regret anything of that. I just wish it wouldn’t have happened the way it did.
Morgan was so sad today. She said Happy would go eat cheeseburgers with her today and it reminded me of our discussion in the car back then, after Afghanistan. It all feels so unreal, so far far away now. It also feels like it’s happening again. Like you would just come back any moment even though I know you won’t. I was there, I was there to feel your heart stop beating and I still hope for you to come back.
I think I need to move on. I know you’d want me to. I don’t want to forget you and I don’t think I ever could. I will always remember that soft tone you had only for your family, never the press. I will never forget the way you used to ruffle your hair when you were nervous. Or that you used to not sleep for days until you almost passed out due to a lack of sleep. Or the way your goatee itched when we kissed. I got used to it, I actually started to like it. I will forever remember the love in your eyes when you first looked at Morgan.
I want to hug you again, Tony. I don’t want you to become someone I used to know. I hope you never will.
But this… this was my last email. My last attempt to talk to you. You will now become a memory, my most precious, my most loved one.
It’s always you, it’s always been you.
I hope you found rest, wherever you are now.
Love,
Pepper
PS: Thor told Morgan you’re up in the sky now. She asked him to tell you that she loves you three thousand.
—
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