Pepper Potts (potts) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2019-12-01 21:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !log, ~2019 december, ~25 points, ~~pepper potts (potts), ~~peter parker (arachnidboy), ~~ryder (pawsome) |
WHO Pepper Stark, Peter Parker & Ryder
WHAT Bad news is Sad
WHEN Monday morning, like 5-6am
WHERE The Stark Family Home; Peter Parker's bedroom
WARNINGS Feels
STATUS Closed | Incomplete gdoc
Pepper woke up to an empty bed, which wasn't unusual in and of itself, but the rest of the room just felt empty. She'd been through it enough times to know what it meant, even as she climbed out of bed and started to rifle through the drawers. All of his things were gone. He'd been sent back. It had always been a possibility, and they'd both known what it would mean when he did. She was devastated, to the point where she honestly felt numb to it all. She pulled on her robe and went to check Morgan's room, relieved to find her daughter fast asleep. At least she was still here.
After pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead, Pepper moved onto the boys, silently thanking everything in the Dome that the Winter Festival had gone off without a hitch and that this happened after they had one more great family outing. She'd treasure the extra time she had with her husband, but she was worried for how Peter especially was going to handle this.
"Ryder? Can you come into Peter's room please?" she called after knocking on his door. He'd been through this before with Dwight. He'd be able to help. Once she'd gotten an affirmative, Pepper let herself into Peter's room and sat down next to him on the side of his bed.
"Peter, sweetheart," she said softly as she gently rubbed his shoulder. Obviously, she wouldn't make either of them go to school today, but it was still much earlier than they really needed to get up for a school day.
***
It wasn’t completely unheard of for Pepper to wake him up. Like the rare instance when he accidentally turned his alarm off instead of to snooze. And she was usually pretty gentle about it, unlike May who had been known to throw dirty laundry at him. But there was something about the way she was doing it that pulled him from a really nice dream and into… Whatever the hell this was about to be.
Then Ryder came in, too, and he felt his heart drop. That wasn’t normal at all. They should both be getting ready for school, not gathering for a family meeting in his room.
Except one of the members of the family wasn’t there.
And somehow he just...knew.
“What happened?” he asked, pulling himself into a sitting position and ruffling his hair, knowing it looked ridiculous and caring less than usual somehow.
***
He could tell something was wrong, again, the moment Mrs Stark called for him, but Ryder knew he needed to be supportive for his little almost family no matter what it was. With Fate at his heels, he came into the room, lingered by the door so he wasn’t crashing in on anything, the same way he was being cautious about trying to help Peter with whatever had happened to him back at home, scratching the dog’s ears.
“Someone’s gone, right?” He knew the look in Mrs Stark’s eyes. He’d seen it before and he’d really hoped he would never have to see it again. It broke his heart a little bit to be looking at it again. This time, he didn’t know if he’d be able to help her through it.
He didn’t know if he’d be able to help either of them through it.
***
Pepper knew they both knew before she even said it, but she owed them both to say the words out loud. She turned to Ryder and held out her hand for him to come closer so she could have her hands on both of them as she said, "Tony's been sent home. His things are gone, and given everything...he won't remember Madison Valley if he comes back." She paused for a brief moment and gave both of them a squeeze.
"Morgan's still here, she's asleep. I'll tell her later. I just- I love you both and I'm so sorry this is happening." Pepper wasn't sure how she was going to handle losing her husband again when she was alone, but she did know she would be strong for all three of her kids, and even the others. Just thinking about telling the rest of their friends and extended family was daunting, but Pepper was determined to bear the brunt of it for her kids.
"I wanted you to hear it from me, and I wanted us to be together. It's-" Pepper couldn't help but focus on Peter, since she knew it was going to be reopening that wound again, "-it's not going to be easy, but we'll get through this together. We're a family." She needed them desperately now, hoped that they would lean on her and on each other, but it was up to them, ultimately. "I'll take care of letting people know, I'll make sure they give you guys space if that's what you want. You don't have to go to school this week, just- just tell me what you guys need, okay?"
She needed Tony, but she was going to be strong.
***
No. No. Not again. Why? It was like losing him all over again. A third time, really, given Peter’s return home to a world where Mr. Stark was gone. For a moment he simply sat there, staring down at where Pepper’s hand was joined in his. He tried to focus on her words. Obviously this was as hard on her as it was on him. Harder, really. Peter didn’t know a lot about the whole ‘true love, till death do us part’ thing, but he knew it was one of the biggest moments in someone’s life. And he knew how very much Tony had loved her.
He looked over at Ryder. The boy was basically his foster brother and yet, he knew sometimes he felt left out. Especially in a family where everyone else was all from the same world. But Peter really, genuinely liked him. And he hoped maybe Ryder knew that. And knew they were still family no matter what.
Nodding slowly, he bit his lip to the point of pain. This just couldn’t be happening. He had been working so hard to make Tony Stark proud of him and for what? “We’ll be okay, Miss Pepper. We have to be. I mean, for each other. And for Morgan. She needs us.”
Because if there was one person Peter would put on a brave face for, it was his little sister.
***
Ryder would never, ever say that he felt left out. He cared about everyone and he knew they did their best to make sure he was included but he also knew that sometimes it was hard. There were things that everyone just knew that he didn’t and there wasn’t enough to glean explanations from. And it didn’t feel right to ask about things that were obviously hard.
And none of it mattered right now. What mattered was that he did know what this part meant and he knew that he was actually the one best equipped to help them through. He hadn’t had as much of a chance to get to know Tony.
“She will need you,” he echoed Peter’s sentiment, squeezing Mrs Stark’s hand, offering a small smile he hoped was reassuring. “So you guys worry about that and yourselves, okay? I’ll help however I can.” Whether that was just tidying up around the house or cooking or collecting homework. Whatever it seemed like they needed.
For him, as long as Mrs Stark was still there, she was the constant in his life here and she was the one he’d wound up closest to, he’d be alright. He’d figure out how to help them. Maybe he’d have to ask Star again; she seemed to be good with people’s feelings.
***
As much as she never wanted it to appear as though she cared for one of them more than the other, it was obvious Peter needed comfort moreso than Ryder. It hurt her heart to know that her husband hadn't had a chance to get to know Ryder well enough, but she couldn't go back and change the course of events that led to this moment. She could only console herself with the fact that she'd done everything she could short of sticking them both in a room together and forcing them to connect in the way she had with Ryder. Just like she hadn't been able to help Tony find the right words to express how much he loved Peter, but she'd do her best to remind him every day that they'd both been so proud of him and everything he'd accomplished.
"I'll be okay as long as I've got you two and Morgan," Pepper promised, and though her eyes watered, she held back the tears because they wouldn't be helpful right now. She tugged Ryder forward a bit and tugged Peter towards them so that she could hug them both tightly, just for a moment if they'd let her. "But don't forget that it's okay to be sad, to be mad and even to hate the dome. Don't feel like you can't feel those things just because of me, or Morgan. I'm here for you both, no matter what."
The last thing she wanted was for them to bottle it up, especially when it was going to be a semi-difficult concept for Morgan to fully understand. Pepper would do her best with that once her daughter was ready to face the day. She needed to make sure her boys were, too. She let go just enough to look at the pair of them. "What do you guys need from me?" she asked, because Pepper wasn't going to assume anything at this point.