Chapter Text
"Pepper?" A kind voice repeated. Pepper Potts blinked and looked at the doctor and friend standing in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Helen, it's just... a lot of information to process. Can you repeat it?" Helen Cho nodded her face pinched. Pepper knew she didn't like this anymore than she did, hell maybe even more.
'It must be difficult, operating on your best friend.' She thought sympathetically.
"Evie's alive, Pepper." She reassured her reaching out and giving her arm a squeeze. "But she's in really bad shape, we basically just had to pry her out of the armor to get to her. Multiple broken ribs and a lung starting to collapse."
"Not to mention the hypothermia." Pepper added. Helen let out a bitter laugh.
"And here's the part that Evie is going to find hilarious, the cold actually saved her life. It slowed down her bodily functions almost to preserve her, which also helped slow the internal bleeding. Right now it's a waiting game." Pepper nodded.
"She'll get a kick out of that." Helen raised an eyebrow.
"I'm getting a real kick out of it now." She sniped. "And I thought Thor holding Evie up by her neck was the worst thing those jack assess could do to her physically." Pepper nodded.
"We'll figure this out." She promised. "But can you give me an update on Rhodey?" Helen nodded.
"Surgery was a success, but he shattered the bones in his lower body which in turn caused some nerve damage. I'm afraid the paralysis is permanent. Without a miracle." Both shared a smile.
"Evie." They commented with a laugh. They had seen Evie defy the odds over and over again sometimes for fun, if anyone could put Rhodey back on his feet it would be her. A thought then occurred to Pepper.
"Do you think, you could convince the doctors to move him into Evie's room? I have a feeling it would better for everyone if they are together." Helen pondered this for a moment.
"I don't see why not. Besides we both know if they are not, sooner or later we are going to find one of them sneaking out to go see the other." Both shared a moment of laughter. "I'll see what I can do, I'll be back to give you an update soon, okay?" Pepper nodded mutely.
"Thank you, Helen. Really, you might have just saved her life." Helen shook her head.
"She's my best friend too." She reminded Pepper softly before walking away. Pepper waited a few seconds before beginning to pace the length of the private waiting room in the Berlin hospital that Evie had been flown to immediately after being rescued. Her mind racing, with synapses firing off every few seconds. Fear being the foremost thought. Just like it had been since she got the dreaded message from Friday less than twenty four hours ago.
"Miss Potts! I've lost contact with the Iron Woman suit!"
God, those hours had been terrifying. Not knowing what had happened.
'What if we had been too late? Evie could have been lying dead in that bunker and-" Pepper mentally slapped herself. 'Enough, now's not the time for to dwell on what if. Evie's alive and right now that's all that matters.' She took a deep breathe.
"Friday, are you there?" She asked.
"Of course, Miss Potts." The ever reassuring Irish lit commented from her phone. While the loss of J.A.R.V.I.S. still cut deep, Friday had been a new inclusion in their circle to help lessen the pain. While she wasn't J.A.R.V.I.S. she held a place in their lives.
"Who did this?" Pepper demanded her voice low and sharp, her naturally calm demeanor transforming into a look of steel . This was the Virginia "Pepper" Potts feared by men of the business world. A cold intuitive woman who made sure to leave her mark. She could hear the steady clicks of her high heels as she walked keeping her focused.
"I'm... I'm not sure I should say right now."
"My best friend is lying in a hospital bed while we are waiting for her to wake up from surgery. Now I want to know who put her there, now." Pepper pressed.
"... Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes, Miss." Friday answered. "Would you like to view the security footage?"
"Yes." As the video of the bunker played Pepper felt her rage boil over. She had to shut the video off halfway through to calm herself down. She could feel the familiar burn of the partly dormant Extremis trying to rise to the surface.
'How DARE he?!' Her mind screamed out.
How dare he do all this and still parade himself as the parathion of good and righteousness?! And he just left her there? After all the years they had fought side by side?
'Who does he think he is?!'
'Oh, Evie, I wish one of us had been there to help you when you needed us. You've always been there for us, helping us become the people we were meant to be. By simply being our friend.'
If someone had told Pepper when she had started out as an intern of Stark Industries that in less than ten years she'd be the best friend to the young CEO and named co-CEO of the multi-billion dollar corporation she'd have laughed in their face. But now here she was. And all thanks to a can of pepper spray.
"Look lady, we told you to get lost already.' One of the security personal on the top floor ordered.
"But I have to see, Miss Stark now. It's important!" A young Virginia Potts insisted.
"Miss Stark doesn't have time for low paid interns." The other security guard sneered. Virginia pulled out her trusty can of pepper spray.
"I'm going in one way or the other." She insisted. The first man narrowed his eyes.
"That sounded like a threat to me, and we are authorized to take care of threats." He stepped forwards and Virginia held up the can. The other man swooped in and grabbed her arm in a vice like grip twisting it behind her back.
"Ow! Let go!" Virginia cried out in pain.
"Let's go." The men began to drag her towards the elevator.
"Gentleman, kindly let go of the lady." A voice sounded from behind. The men immediately did as asked and Virginia turned around to see Toni Stark leaning against the doorframe of her office arms crossed and face impassive. "You can come in Miss Potts." She told her. Virginia walked into the office and Toni shut the door behind her. "Take a seat, Miss Potts or do you prefer Virginia?"
"You know my name?" Pepper questioned sinking in the nearest chair watching the young woman riffle behind her desk.
"Contrary to popular belief, I do pay attention to and care about my employees welfare. Here." She finished softly rising with an ice pack in her hands and passing it over to Virginia. The redhead gratefully pressed it to her arm. "Now what was that you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Oh, here." Virginia passed the brunette the file in her hand. Toni perched herself on the edge of her desk and scanned it. "I-I noticed it this morning and no one listened to me when I said if we didn't bring it up to you, we could cost the company millions. So I knew I had to go to the source."
"Huh." Toni commented an inquisitive look on her face. She walked back behind her desk and sat down in her chair picking up the phone. She dialed a few numbers. "Hi, Ross?" She asked causing Pepper to stiffen as she heard the name of her supervisor. "So I have a Miss Potts in here. Something about a math mistake. Uh, huh. Hmm. You don't say." Virginia's heart sank, so much for this job and she could kiss any references goodbye. "Well I just looked over the file and I saw the mistake, or rather lack of mistake because I gave you the wrong report on purpose." Virginia's head shot up. "Seriously, is everyone working in your division a spineless idiot? An intern is the only one that had the guts to confront me the matter." She finished before hanging up. She then looked at Virginia. "What?"
"Why would you give us the wrong report on purpose?" She asked curiously. Toni smirked
"To see who had the balls to call me out on it. Apparently you have more than the head of your division."
"I'm sure I'll be the hit of the party when I go back later." Virginia muttered.
"Well you don't have to." Toni told her.
"Am I fired?" Virginia asked worriedly.
"No! No." Toni reassured coming over and sitting down next to her. "More like promoted if you want, I need a new PA. One I can trust, and something tells me that it's you. Pays more than you'll make in the internship in a year and comes with a pretty sweet benefits package. What do you say?" Virginia thought for a moment.
"I accept." She said shaking her boss's hand.
"Great." Toni walked over to her desk again. "But seriously, were you really going to pepper spray them?" At the sheepish look on the redhead's face she laughed. "Oh, I like you, Pepper. Something tells me we are going to get along great."
That had been the start of the greatest friendship of Pepper's life. She had gotten a new job, a new nickname and a budding friendship with her boss all in one day. Soon she met Rhodey and other members of Evie's circle. But what made her smile the most when she recalled those moments were the days when she had earned the right to call her boss Evie.
And now Roger's had nearly killed her best friend, and thought he was off the hook? Hell no. He had messed with what was hers and he would soon regret it. First things first, she had to contact other members of the circle so they could figure out what they were going to do about the Ex-Avengers after they took care of Evie. Once she was set they could get on with plans for revenge against the ex-heroes (if they could even be called heroes for some). They would not get away with this. Even if she had to hunt them down herself if she had to (not that the other members of the circle would let her go alone anyway). One thing is for certain.
They will pay.