CEO / BADASS

𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚢--𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝙰𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚂𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚝𝚑.

“𝙸𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚛?” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎. “𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝙸’𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚗’𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚡 𝚖𝚎.” 𝙰 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚙, 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝.

“𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 . . .” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎, 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 $𝟸𝟶 𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚕. “𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜.” 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟸𝟶 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛.

He  still  felt  weak  and  drained  from  his  long  stay  in  space  with  Nebula.  It  hadn’t  taken  him  long  to  think  he  might  never  make  it  home  when  they’d  boarded  and  set  of  for  EARTH  having  no  clue  where  to  get  there.  But  Nebula  had  been  a  good  companion  and  when  they’d  arrived  home  he’d  wanted  to  help  her  settle  in,  make  her  feel  at  home -  instead  he  found  himself  to  weak  to  leave  the  bed  he’d  been  put  in,  too fragile  to  keep  his  eyes uncovered  for  long.  Not  to  mention  how  much  weight  he’d  lost  in  that  time. 

“ Try  to  sound  at  least  a  LITTLE  surprised,  Pep. ”  A  small  smirk  appeared  on  the  engineers  lips  and  he  pulled  his  head  up  from  the  pillow  it  had  been  rested  on.  Food  sounded  good,  now  that  he  was  eating  properly  again  - it  had  taken  him  a  while  to  adjust  to  bigger  meals  after  going  so long  without.  “I’m  gonna  go  ahead  and  chose  the  takeout  over  the  outing  today  but  we  can  do  the  outing  tomorrow. ”

“𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔? 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗’𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎--𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔--𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 . . . 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚏𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢.

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐. “𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜.” 𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚊, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚢𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚏𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚗𝚊𝚙.

“𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, “𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛.” 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. “𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠’𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚘 . . . 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 . . . 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎.” 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖. “𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢-𝚝𝚘-𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 . . . 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝’𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.”

𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚋 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢, “𝚠𝚑𝚘’𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠?”

            ❝  You  can  yell  at  me  for  it  later,  Pep.  ❞      There’s  a  little  bit  of  amusement  in  his  tone  to  combat  her  flat  one.      Admittedly,  there’s  pride  that  slips  through  him  as  the  suit  engulfs  her  body,  catered  to  her  and  her  needs.      It’s  a  protocol  that  he  hadn’t  wanted  to  have  to  ever  use,  but  in  times  of  need,  his  number  one  priority  was  making  sure  that  Pepper  was  safe  before  anyone  else.      It’s  always  been  that  way  between  them,  even  when  they  weren’t  a  thing.      Pepper  and  Rhodey  were  all  Tony  had,  and  he  held  them  close,  treated  them  like  they  were  gold,  because  that  was  what  he  knew  and  needed  to  do.      Biting  down  on  his  bottom  lip  though,  as  she  pitches  into  the  air,  he  can’t  help  but  feel  just  as  sick  as  she  must  be  feeling. 

            He  doesn’t  know  if  Malibu  is  going  to  be  safer,  or  for  how  long.      He  doesn’t  know  if  there’s  going  to  be  a  giant  warning  there,  either.      All  he  knows  is  that  it’s  safer  than  Manhattan  right  now,  and  that’s  what  he  has  to  go  on.      If  he  doesn’t,  then  he’s  going  to  over  think  this  all  and  probably  do  something  that  he  won’t  be  proud  of.      Too  many  times  he’s  put  himself  on  the  line,  has  stretched  his  neck  and  tempted  them.      He’s  not  doing  it,  not  anymore;  right  now,  he’s  regrouping  with  his  family  and  then  going  from  there.      He  can’t  save  the  world  if  he  doesn’t  save  them  first. 

            When  he’s  sure  that  Pepper’s  got  control  and  isn’t  going  to  crash,  he  follows  her  up,  course  already  set  in  his  own  suit.      His  mind  is  racing    ——    he  has  no  clue  how  they’re  going  to  combat  this  thing.      Hell,  he’s  not  even  sure  if  they’re  traditional  zombies,  or  some  strange  virus  turning  them  into  something  resembling  zombies.      Though,  he  knows  he’s  watched  too  much  media  about  them,  knows  that  the  imagination  can  truly  take  you  away  if  you  let  it.      So  he  has  to  make  a  priority  to  keep  his  wits  about  him,  and  to  also  start  thinking  of  a  possible  chemical  make  up  to  work  on  the  solution. 

            As  much  as  Bruce  wants  to  be  left  alone  at  times,  he’s  going  to  have  to  pull  him  in.      A  debate  runs  through  him,  wanting  to  call  in  the  Hulkbuster  suit  so  that  he  can  get  Banner  to  Malibu  as  quick  and  as  safely  as  possible.      There’s  a  moment  of  hesitation,  and  then  he  tells  FRIDAY  to  get  Banner. 

            ❝  You’ll  get  used  to  it,  little  duckling.      I  was  going  to  say  ugly  duckling  to  be  funny  but  I’m  pretty  sure  you’ll  repulser  blast  me  out  of  the  sky  for  it.  ❞      A  small  smile  settles  on  his  face  at  that;  at  least  some  things  never  change,  even  if  the  world  around  them  is.      He  knows  that  Pepper  would  kick  his  ass  for  a  comment  like  that,  suit  or  not  protecting  her.      She’s  never  been  afraid  to  put  him  in  his  place,  and  he’s  respected  that  about  her  for  so  long. 

            But  then  it  catches  up  to  him,  what  Pepper’s  said,  his  mind  torn  between  schematics,  planning,  and  the  woman  in  front  of  him.      His  stomach  drops  then,  a  sickening  feeling  coursing  over  him.      How  in  the  hell  had  he  forgotten  Rhodey  of  all  people?      Swallowing  thickly,  Tony  feels  his  hands  tremble  within  the  confinements  of  the  suit. 

            ❝  FRIDAY?      Activate  War  Machine  armor  and  grab  Rhodey  as  well,  please.      Trajectory  for  Malibu.      I  don’t  care  about  the  fuss  he  gives  you,  get  him  in  that  suit  and  to  safety.  ❞      If  he  voice  shakes,  he  doesn’t  bother  to  hide  it. 

            ❝  Of  course,  boss.      Switching  on  AI  systems  now  and  preforming  rescue  and  escape  plans.  ❞      The  crystal  clear  voice  responds  back  to  him  calmly,  and  Tony  can  feel  the  weight  on  his  chest  ease  ever  so  slightly. 

            ❝  Anyone  else  I’ve  forgotten?  ❞      The  question  is  directed  to  Pepper,  and  his  voice  shakes  once  more,  only  for  a  fraction  of  a  second.      He  has  to  be  calm,  has  to  be  her  anchor.      It’s  just  hard  as  hell  when  he  feels  like  he’s  running  away  from  his  problems  instead  of  solving  them.

𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚓𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍-𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚢, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. “𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚟𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚝?” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚒-𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚂𝚎𝚖𝚒. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝. 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. “𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝. 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚢. 𝚃𝚠𝚘, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝙸’𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.” 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏, 𝚗𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢.

“𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙰𝚈?” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍.

“𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝙿𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚜?” 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙰𝚈’𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚟𝚎.

“𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎?”

“𝙾𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚖𝚊’𝚊𝚖.”

𝙾𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜. 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚜. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚒𝚌 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝙸𝚛𝚘𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚗. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝙸𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑, 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚞. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍. “𝚄𝚑𝚑𝚑𝚑. 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢?” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚣𝚘𝚗𝚎.

“𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝙸 𝚐𝚘 . . . 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗?” 𝚆𝚘𝚠, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍. “𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝙸 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍?” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢, 𝙿𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚁𝚑𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚐𝚘𝚍.

Normally,  his  mind  is  already  working,  JARVIS  calculating  and  a  solution  streaming  across  his  screens.   It’s  not  right  now  though,  because  he  can’t  even  believe  what’s  happening  right  now  as  he  stares  down  at  the  streets  of  Manhattan.   His  mind  isn’t  completely  taking  it  in  and  he  knows  that,  but  he  can’t  help  letting  out  a  slow,  shaky  breath  at  the  scene.    This  couldn’t  be  happening,  not  right  now.   This  was  some  weird  hangover  dream,  right?    Some  nightmare  brought  on  by  whatever  was  on  the  television  when  he  left  it  on?      But  it’s  not,  and  deep  down  he  knows  it.

His  mind  slips  to  Happy  and  Peter,  already  sending  them  messages  to  get  out  of  the  city  asap,   cars  rerouted  and  Peter’s  suit  activated.    If  he  has  to  stay  behind  and  take  care  of  the  problem,  then  he’ll  do  it,  but  he’s  not  dealing  well  with  having  to  have  the  most  important  people  to  him  staying  there  at  the  same  time.    So  he’s  already  trying  to  keep  up  with  Pepper’s  rambling  while  he  tries  to  sort  this  all  out,  because  he  feels  like  there’s  no  way  to  stop  this.   A  helpless  feeling  is  starting  to  work  through  him,  and  he  can  only  hope  that  Fury  is  already  on  this  and  trying  to  figure  out  a  way  to  stop   it.    He’s  always  on  the  down  low  though,  so  who  knows  how  to  find  him.

Teeth  rake  across  his  bottom  lip  for  a  moment,  unsure  of  what  their  next  step  is.   Getting  out  of  here  would  be  the  easy  thing  to  do;  he  has  a  way  to  get  Pepper  out  safe  and  sound  as  well,  but  he  knows  it  might  lead  to  a  possible  fight.   His  armor  might  protect  him  down  there,  but  if  he  manages  to  save  someone,  what’s  telling  him  that  they’re  not  infected?   What  if  he  spreads  it  on  accident  because  he  presumes  wrong?   

This  isn’t  something  that  Iron  Man  can  handle,  and  that’s  just  the  reality  of  the  situation.   This  isn’t  a  situation  for  his  science  brain  even,  and  he  feels  a  shudder  run  down  his  spine.

“  I  don’t  think  that  we  can,  either.   That’s  the  scary part.   I  already  have  Happy  and  Peter  rerouting  to  Malibu. ”    He’ll  hear  it  from  them  when  they  get  there,  about  how  they  can’t  just  do  that  to  them.   But  he  has  to  keep  them  safe,  no  matter  the  fight  that  comes  from  it.   And  now  it’s Pepper’s  turn  as  well,  but  this  time  he’s  not  going  to  play  hero.   He’s  tired  of  it,  and  it’s  a  suicide  mission  to  go  down  there.   Authorities  are  on  it,  and  that’s  all  that  they  can  do  until  the  Avengers  manage  to  regroup.

“  Remember  when  you  yelled  at  me  for  my  hobby?    You’re  going  to  be  thanking  it  in  a  minute.  ”     He  reaches  out,  presses  his  thumb  into  the  gem  on  the  necklace  that  she’s  wearing.   A  quiet  beep  is  heard  over  the snarls  and  screams  below,  and  instantly  armor  starts  to  case  itself  around  her,  nanotech  spreading  from  it  and  covering  her  in  blue  and  gold.

Honestly,  maybe  it’s  just  an  inappropriate  kink  at  this  point,  but  she’s  never  looked  more  radiant  in  it.

“  Come  on.  ”    There’s  no  time  to  give  her  lessons  on  her  own  suit;   she  has  access  to  FRIDAY  and  she’s  used  his  before.   Before  he  can  say  anything  else,  Pepper’s  in  the  air  and  he’s  following  close  behind  her,  knowing  he’s  done  the  right  thing,  even  if  he  feels  sick  for  doing  it.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔, 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚖? 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 ‘𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚖’ 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 . . . 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢, 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍. 

“𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚞,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚞𝚙 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. “𝚁-𝚁𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙸𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 . . . 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 . . . 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚘’𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝚝𝚘𝚘?” 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚣𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎--𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐--𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎. 

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚞’𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝. 𝙰𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚒𝚝’𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 . . . 𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎? 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢. 𝙰 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛. “𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 . . . 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝙱𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚝. 

𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕. 𝙰𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍-𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙰 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚔𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛. “𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 . . . 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚔. 𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 

“𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖. “𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 . . . 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚜? 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 . . . ” 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝙰𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 . . . 𝙽𝚘, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢--𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍--𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢. 

“𝚄𝚖𝚖𝚖, 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙰𝚈?” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍. 

“𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝙿𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚜,” 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍. 

“𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚞, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎?” 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍. 

“𝙾𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎. 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚝.” 

𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍. 𝚁𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 . . . 𝚜𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗. “𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚁𝚑𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠?” 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛. “𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚞, 𝚝𝚘𝚘.” 

𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 . . . 𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚢. “𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 . . . 𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚛𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝚅𝚒𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 . . . 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎? 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎?” 𝙽𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 . . . 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢’𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜.

A    hangover    wasn’t    his    favorite    thing    to    be    going    to    work    with,    but    over    the    years    he    had    gotten    used    to    functioning    with    it.            He    was    doing    his    best    to    lay    off    of    the    stuff,    but    at    some    point    before    a    big    meeting,    those    nerves    got    the    best    of    him    and    he    had    a    mini    spiral.            He’ll    deal    with    it,    it’s    completely    fine.            What’s    not    fine    is    the    fact    that    not    only    are    the    investors    being    assholes    and    questioning    everything,    but    now    people    are    bursting    through    the    glass    and    eating    people?            For    a    minute,    Tony    doesn’t    move,    brain    not    even    computing    the    fact    that    there’s    strange    ass    people    growling    and    eating    his    investors.            But    then    Pepper’s    hand    is    on    his    arm    and    his    mind    is    starting    to    kick    into    gear,    and    he    instantly    goes    into    PROTECT    PEPPER    MODE. 

“    Time    for    the    suit?    ”            It’s    a    terrible    question    to    be    asking    as    he    knows    that,    but    he    has    to    say    something    so    that    he    doesn’t    lose    his    mind,    so    that    he’s    actually    in    the    moment    and    that    this    is    all    real    and    not    some    horrible    dream.            He’s    hoping    that    it    is,    really,    brought    on    by    the    few    drinks    he    had    had    the    night    before;    maybe    it    was    the    guilty    conscious    doing    it,    yelling    at    him    for    not    keeping    his   sobriety    on    track    again. 

It    isn’t    though.            He    knows    that    somewhere    in    the    back    of    his    mind. 

He    doesn’t    wait    for    Pepper’s    response;    he    activates    the    implant    in    his    arm    and    the    suit    is    around    him    in    seconds;    a    blast    through    the    window    and    then    he’s    scooping    Pepper    up,    and    hauling    ass    out    of    there.            JARVIS    is    online    within    seconds,    updating    him    on    the    news,    each    article    flying    past    his    face    in    quick    succession    much    to    his    dismay.            He    can’t    even    keep    up    with    it;    it’s    all    breaking    news,    and    somehow    it’s    contained    right    now    to    New    York    City.            The    military    is    already    quarantining    the    area. 

Tony    isn’t    going    to    lie;    he    half    debates    flying    straight    to    Malibu    and    not    looking    back.            Him    and    Pepper    can    relax    in    the    new    mansion    that    was    built    there,    pretend    this    isn’t    happening,    and    let    the    likes    of    Steve    handle    it.            This    isn’t    his    forte,    he’s    gone;    all    he    wants    to    do    is    keep    her    safe.            But    he    knows    Pepper    would    punch    him    for    that    long    of    a    flight    like    this,    and    he’d    have    to    stay    low.            So    he    does    the    first    thing    he    can    think    of:    he    lands    on    a    nearby    roof    and    sets    her    down,    helmet    coming    up. 

“    So.        We’re    in    trouble.            As    if    that    wasn’t    clear    already.    ”            

“𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝, 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠.” 𝙰𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 . . . 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚣𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜? . . . 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚕. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛--𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚙 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢--𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠.

𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛. “𝙾𝚑 𝚐𝚘𝚍,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝. 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚊-𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝. 

𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠. “𝙾𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚍,” 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝. “𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 . . . 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.” 𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚐𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝. 𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚜. 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚣𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗. 

“𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐?” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚍. 𝙰 𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝? 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢? 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝? 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖? 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛--𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 

𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝. “𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 . . . 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚣𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙰𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝚄𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍--” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝. 

𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏, 𝚊 𝚜𝚔𝚢𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛. “𝙶𝚘𝚍.” 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 

“𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢.” 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎? 𝚆𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎? 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚕𝚢-𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚣𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜? 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝙲𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚢, 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢. “𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖. “𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜.”

𝙸𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝙿𝚃𝚂𝙳. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝙺𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚐, 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝, 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖. 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 

𝚂𝚘, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 

“𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞,” 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙, 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚃𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚍-𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎.

𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚗𝚊𝚙. 𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 

𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚒𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚝. “𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜,” 𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜. 

“𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢,” 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎. “𝙷𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍, “𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢.” 𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. “𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘,” 𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚕𝚢. “𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢.” 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚔𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎𝚋𝚘. 

𝙽𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍. 𝙷𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚜. 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜. 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚗𝚊𝚙. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍, 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍. 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 . . . 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜.

𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝--𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕. 𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚘𝚢. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙰 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚜𝚊𝚙. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚑, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚐. 

     TONY DOES AS HE’S told , the man not even dreaming of defying pepper … even in his current state . he waits until she’s finished wiping the shaving cream of his face before he’s looking back at her completely , his face gaunt but his eyes alive — he gets to see her again . he can’t help but to smile when she teases him , taking comfort in how she attempts to lighten the mood . it’s appreciated , even if circumstances are less than ideal in this moment . but again , tony has her ; she is all he needs … she is all he wants .     “ you really know how to flatter a guy , don’t you ? ”     despite the tired look of him , the smile finds the corners of his eyes , wrinkling them so that pepper can see just how truly happy he is to see her . the tony stark of years prior would be eating up such a compliment , but he doesn’t need to now ; there are more important things in life than looks .

     EYES WILL CLOSE THE second she leans over him , though , the man exhaling slowly as if hoping that this instance will last a lifetime . feeling pepper’s lips pressed to his forehead is something he’d taken for granted for years ; that will be no more .     “ promise ? ”     he’ll keep that grin up for the woman , amazed with how composed and calm she is in front of him . were the tables turned tony would be a mess … he isn’t even sure he’d have been able to stop crying . the strength pepper shows him is always amazing .

     NEBULA — YES , THE BIG , blue meanie .  expression softens a bit as pepper talks about her , briefly following the strawberry blonde’s gaze as she looks outside of their room before he’s focusing back on her . mild surprise overcomes him , though , when she suggests bringing nebula into the company . tony doubts the other would be too interested — the work would be far too mundane for her — but it’s an idea ; a unique one .     “ bring it up , but don’t get your hopes up . ”     that isn’t him shooting her idea down . in truth , tony’s intrigued by the idea ; what if nebula does agree to stay and help ?

     AND ALL TOO SOON the topic of conversation is changing , but it’s lighthearted still .     “ do i smell that bad ? ”     god , please don’t stop ; it’s all he can think when pepper slips her hand into his hair , her fingertips brushing over his scalp . all of it is quite calming , his eyes even hooding over just as she suggests he sleep some more .     “ i don’t want to sleep … i want to stay awake with you . ”     if only to make sure she’s still here . however , malnutrition and exhaustion catch up to him all at once … he’s nearly asleep already , arms resting at his sides on the bed .     “ bubbles sound nice … ”

𝙰 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙷𝚎’𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙰 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍, 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝, 𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛. 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗.

“𝙼𝚖, 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝, 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 . . . 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. “𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙽𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚊. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑. 

“𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢, 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 . . . 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚏𝚞𝚕. 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚕’𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝚃𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛. 𝚆𝚎’𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚔 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎,” 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜. 

𝙷𝚎’𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖. “𝚂𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔. “𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.” 𝙰 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚔𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 

𝙰𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚖. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎. “𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 . . . 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍.” 

𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙽𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝, “𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚠.” 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗--𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚍--𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚗𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢. 

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚎. 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙴𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑. 𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍. 

𝙰𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢, 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. “𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝚋𝚘𝚜𝚜,” 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛. 

“𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢. 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢’𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜.” 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑, 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑, 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚝, 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎.

     HE JUST NEEDS TO touch her in some way , hold on to her and what they have . that’ll help , right ? that’ll make her stay ? he isn’t sure he can do this without her … but seeing the red and puffiness of her eyes says all he needs to know . she’ll even touch him in return , but tony knows better than to allow himself to linger in it … or does he ? his desperation has him yearning for her touch , especially now that he knows he’s messed up . what’s been done cannot be undone . it’s too late .

     HOW DOES HE REACT ? he reacts by not reacting . not outwardly . but when tony sees that single tear fall down her porcelain cheek … he’ll nearly break . a hand quickly lifts to wipe it away , his own sadness and heartbreak meaning nothing compared to her own in this moment . it’s all for nothing , though ; she’s made up her mind . and it isn’t as if she’s wrong . if anything , pepper has it all right . he’s been denying his own problems and troubles , pushing it down further and further in hopes that he can channel it all into his work — to save the world . that’s how he’d rationalized it to himself , but the same rationalizing does not extend to those around him … pepper included .

     INITIALLY HE CANNOT SPEAK , but the final nail in the coffin is when she says she loves him … when she says he’s worthy of love … but he needs to heal what’s broken inside of him . tony doesn’t know how to do that . he isn’t sure he can .     “ i can get better with you here , pep . please … i’ll do everything i can . everything in my power . ”     brown eyes meet bright blue for the briefest of seconds .     “ i don’t want to be alone . ”     it’s all so dark already , but the second those words leave his lips he wishes he can take them back . pepper has made her position clear . to say anything to challenge her is selfish , even tony knows that . thus , lips come together in a tight line as gaze frantically looks her over as much as he can this one last time . is this it ? are they done ?     “ i’ll get better . ”     that’s better to end on , right ?

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎-𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. 

𝙰 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙾𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛. “𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎. 𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝙸𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎.” 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝. 𝙶𝚘𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜. 

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎. “𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 . . . 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.” 𝙰 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎. “𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗,” 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚕𝚢. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. “𝙸’𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢. 𝙸𝚝’𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 . . . 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚛. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝. 𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝙼𝙸𝚃, 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝙸 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎.” 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎. 

𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛--𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗, 𝚖𝚊𝚗--𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖. “𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚋𝚢𝚎, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢.” 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝙷𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚝. 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢’𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝. 

𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝. 𝚂𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 . . . 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗? 𝚂𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 . . . 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖!? “𝙾𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚍,” 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 

𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢. “𝚆𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚠,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙿𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎. 𝙾𝚏 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. 

𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 ‘𝚣𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎’ 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎. 𝚉𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚝 . . . 

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎.