InsaneJournal

"Bridgette?

Bridgette, where are you?

Bridgette!"

Pepper sat up with a start, her heart racing at a million miles at hour. The clock at her bedside table read 4:54 AM. It was still dark outside, but somehow Pepper knew she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep that night. The little girl with the long, flowing dark red hair still drifted in and out of her mind, and at the light touch of her cheek, Pepper realized they were wet from tears. Getting out of bed at this point was the only solution, peeling the covers away and pushing past the lump in her throat. Perhaps she would forget after a while the heart-gripping fear of losing a daughter she never even had.

The water from the sink was freezing cold, but Pepper hardly even noticed. Her mind was still trying to recapture the dream that was finally slipping away. It had been a nightmare, a pure torment, but it had also been something she craved. The perils of motherhood seemed to plague her in the dream. She had lost Bridgette, the girl she had seen in her version of Heaven with Bruce. Her daughter. And for one fleeting, frozen watery moment, she almost wished that this portal to Heaven was her future.

The thought was lost when her phone vibrated. It was some pointless reminder about groceries and whatnot. She set it to snooze and went about her regular business. Even though it was early for a Monday morning, she still had to get ready for work. Dream or no dream, she had a job to do, and she would have to get over this at some point if she wanted to look halfway alive today at the office. Normally, she was a ball of energy, storming through the place with a bounce in her step. Today, she would be a slug.

And as such, her day progressed. Slowly, it inched forward. A Monday on Earth felt like a regular day on Mercury, some had said. A thousand plus hours all crammed into one solitary Monday. Did people hate Mondays because they were Mondays or did people hate Mondays because they also ruined Sundays? Maybe that was too much of a philosophical question for her to tackle today, because the little red headed girl kept popping up in her mind at random times in the day.

After what felt like an eternity, the afternoon rained down on them, and Pepper was actually eager to go home. First, she had to stop by the grocery store, as her reminder suggested. She bought a few items that she was missing, as well as a couple of things that she knew Tony would want but would likely be too involved with everything else to remember to get for himself. The thought of Tony being here both made her smile as well as cringe. She adored Tony, loved every stupid inch of him, even his faults, which he had many. And while she had wished for his appearance here at some point, it also meant that he too was stuck there, just like everyone else.

Tony would never accept that, she thought to herself. Of course, he would try to come up with some crazy machine or plan or both to try and get them out of there. And not that Pepper doubted his brilliance, she just wasn't sure if it was possible to escape this place. Many had tried and failed, and while that didn't mean he would too, it didn't give anyone much hope. Her thoughts of Tony and the wormhole had somehow led her to the front of his house after she had left the grocery store. He had given her his address when he first arrived, only making her frown for a second that he hadn't been placed together with her. Though, later on she understood. He needed space for his workshop, and even one entire Portland house wasn't enough for that gigantic mess.

Pepper sighed and hoisted her brown paper bag full of groceries a little higher on her hip. Once again today, she was reminded of Bridgette, and her eyes watered at the thought. Could it even be possible? For one stinking chance in the entirety of all the universes that ever existed, could Pepper and Tony ever have a child together, much less one as beautiful and as sweet at the little girl she had seen in the portal? But as she stared at the house in a very stalker-like way, Pepper thought of an even scarier idea.

How am I ever going to tell Tony?

And the answer was simple.

I can't.