2450/The Open Door

The Open Door
Date of Scene:	14 July 2020
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Medical
Synopsis:	Pepper locates a wayward Tony, out of medical.
Cast of Characters:	Tony Stark, Pepper Potts

---

Tony Stark has posed:
"Ms. Potts."

JARVIS is the one to contact her, and to wait politely for her reply. His voice is pensive with some kind of news or request, though he doesn't rush into anything or push urgently. "I have an update and request related to Mr. Stark," JARVIS continues. "I think it may be important."

It's relatively late, closing in towards eleven at night; Tony hadn't done much that day beyond sleep and eat, finally seeming to be forced to do so by his body finally needing to recover.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper's been in the Avengers Mansion all of ten minutes; the time needed to walk through the intricately carved hallways that lead from the front door to the back, larger than life kitchen. She's done for the day at the Tower, checking in with the contractors in order to get the work started (with Tony's blessings attached to those non-essential areas), and after a quick phonecall to Amanda, she's here waiting for her coffee to finish brewing before she heads downstairs. She's dressed down; jeans, an airy button down shirt covering a lighter, closely fitted shift, and a pair of sneakers.

Jarvis' voice comes just as she finishes pouring his coffee. His voice is familiar to her, and at this point, she doesn't have to look up to think she's talking to -someone-.

"Yes, Jarvis?"

The coffee is taken, and that first appreciative sip is taken as she leans against the counter for that brief respite before heading downstairs. Her brows crease, "An update and request?" Now, if Jarvis carved it out as 'important', well.. he's an intelligent, bordering on sentient AI.

Straightening from her lean, Pepper still has the mug in two hands (and it's not even Thor's!), and begins tracing her steps down to the Medlab, "Okay, tell me while I walk. He's okay, right? Didn't fall out of bed, didn't reprogram his monitors.."

Tony Stark has posed:
"Mr. Stark has left medical," JARVIS explains.

The AI has a tone of a mild worry, but also respect. He doesn't step on Tony's toes or wishes, not ever. But he will act in his master's best interests: Tony built him to always do that. Tony didn't want to part with the connection to JARVIS, and it's alive and well, that piece that cares for Tony.

"He has instructed me to give him space, but I felt it prudent to let you know right away." It was less that JARVIS is anticipating her going to medical, more that it just happened.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper halts in her tracks the moment she hears those words. "He left medical?" It's not that she's questioning the faithful AI, it's just she's letting it seep down.

Okay, Pepper considers a moment before, "Where is he?" She's the worst when anthropomorphizing the bots, and when it comes to JARVIS? She fully believes she can hear the tonal qualities come through; and this time, concern. "Yes, thank you."

It's not that she's letting the AI off the hook for letting her know where he is, but Pep does double duty and sets her coffee down on a decorative table in order to take her new BEE phone out. Quick hit of a 'contact' button and she's calling Tony's phone, reaching out to retake her coffee as she sets to lean on the wall.

Tony Stark has posed:
"The north balcony, next to the study," JARVIS answers. By that description Pepper should easily be able to decipher that; connected to where the living quarters used to be when the home was lived in during the period when Tony was younger. Most of that wing is not in use: the suites of rooms were placed in the other newer area that was rennovated into being the personal apartments. The north end was not destroyed or touched very much, though the libraries and other things housed there do get used fairly often.

The phone goes very quickly to voicemail. "Due to his request, I am not going to attempt to contact him at this time for you; apologies." JARVIS does sound regretful, but firm.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The phone goes to voice mail after JARVIS offers up the basic whereabouts of Tony, and she stares at the phone for a long moment before she cuts the connection without leaving a message. From what is explained, there's no reason to. He'll see the call log. "Thank you, JARVIS." She'll find him.

Pushing gently off the wall, Pepper turns around to go back to the kitchen to pour a second cup of coffee before she starts making her way up. She's not as familiar with the Avengers Mansion, and certainly not with the older, not used portions of the estate. Ask her about the Tower? She knows it all..

Here? Not so much.

With the second cup of coffee poured, and in hand, she's wandering the corridors, looking for that particular study, so she can find the right balcony-

"Tony?"

Tony Stark has posed:
Finding the study isn't difficult, not really; it's on the north end on the second floor, immediately viewable after going up the stairs. The study itself is not the location she seeks exactly, but the entry to the balcony on that side. One of the doors stands open, which created a breeze through that wing of the mansion, a chill from the evening that isn't necessarily unpleasant in the summer night.

Calling verbally to Tony at first doesn't get an answer, not until she actually comes up to the balcony door itself, since the sounds of the city, the heartbeat of it, never sleeps. There's life and presence.

Tony is there, though, seated on one of the outdoor chairs. He doesn't have any cords or IVs attached to him: he must have disconnected those before he left; he also lacks a sling for his left arm. The balcony isn't lit up, lots of it is dark, but his arc reactor is very visible.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper loves the sights from the Penthouse balcony when it's dark and 'city-quiet', when everything is lit up; the city never truly sleeps, it's true. To have the Empire State Building right outside your door?

Pepper's found it, finally, the open door giving her that obvious clue. Her sneakers render her almost silent in her walking, but she does pause at the door to feel the light breeze through loose hair. When given that chance to breathe, this is a good night to do it. Not too humid, not too hot.

Walking through that door now, Pepper crosses to a small horizontal surface to set her coffee down before turning about to find the object of her search. She has more than a few opinions on that softly glowing blue light in his chest, but while it's there? She approaches, her head canted, and she's able to make out the form a little easier for the dark and the light glow,

"Tony?" Questions and statements all in one, and it's a little louder.

Tony Stark has posed:
"JARVIS talked to you?" Tony guesses, with a muted, rueful quality, as if JARVIS had lightly disobeyed him, but he isn't directly upset about it. There's a stretch in his voice, that fronted thing that he does when he has to act more awake or upbeat than he actually is.

"I'm not dying out here. Just got claustrophobic down in there," Tony says with a shrug and gesture of right hand, his tone very indifferent and dismissive about anything actually being a problem or really getting to him. It sounds more like he just had a mercurial desire to take a walk...

"What's that, coffee?" Tony guesses of the mug.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"He didn't interrupt you," Pepper defends, "And he was worried." Her tones are soft, holding a gentle lilt in her usual 'explanation' tenor. "And yes, I brought coffee."

There is a cursory search for a seat in the vicinity that isn't heavier than she is, and pulling it closer so she doesn't have to stand, she perches on the edge, ready to hand it over. "I know, and I get it," she begins. "You're starting to feel better and being cooped up down there doesn't help." She's not mad, she's not ready to tug him by the ear and lead him back down. Not. Her. Thing. He's a grown man.

"This is a nicer spot to recover. Feel a little more human." She half-smiles at him before, "You're not looking in the sky for alien ships, right? Nothing that I should know about?" She's teasing, mostly.

Tony Stark has posed:
"He does worry," Tony chuckles softly, an amused affection in it. He brushes his right hand up and in, rubbing over his neck and jaw a little. He catches sight of the mug, and does a small 'no, I'm all right' sort of motion of fingers and shake of head. He doesn't want it now, at least not yet.

"Alien ships, hardly; I've had enough of alien ships. Just... also had enough of basements," Tony grants, a bit more heavily. He draws one hand down self-consciously over the center of his chest, then diverts his gaze down to it, and moves to adjust to bring a hand up under his shirt, unclip a lead that didn't entirely get removed, and toss it a little aggressively away from him across the balcony. Something else is going on here, under the surface. A piece of injuries and basements.

"I just..." Tony flutters his fingers, forming the words, pulling the edge of his shirt back down. "had to get out of there."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper watches him, and breathes a soft bit of amused air at his own chuckle in agreement. JARVIS is certainly a beloved bit of tech that has grown so far and so fast into each of their hearts that it's a piece of them. At least in hers, and she's never one to //not// admit it. Pepper does rise again to set it aside and takes back her own cooling mug into two hands before she sits down again.

Pepper nods her acknoweldgement, her understanding. Stir-crazy, but there's something else bubbling below the surface, she can feel it. His underlying stress, the posture, the specific look to the arc reactor in his chest, the toss of the forgotten lead cinches it for her in her mind, and there's a hesitation there, a few heartbeats of silence as she works out 'should and would' in her wordings.

Yes, she should. Yes, she would.

"Tony, if you need to talk. Or, well.. want me to leave so you can spend some time alone out here, it's okay. I could take you home," where all //his// stuff is.

For as important seeming that coffee was to her even seconds ago, it's ignored, even as it rests in her hands. Instead, in the darkness, lit only by the ambient lights, Pepper sits, waiting for a decision, but does follow it up with, "What is wrong?" Beat. "Other than basements."

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony's quiet for a long moment; long enough possibly to make her wonder if she stepped over a line somewhere, or if he just doesn't want to talk but hasn't decided to dismiss her quite yet.

"Nah, it's alright, Pep," Tony says, with his usual shameless, brazen quality. He'll blaze his way through this too, as if it weren't something deeper.

"Sometimes it closes in a little bit, that's all. That feeling of being trapped. A ghost of the weight of that car battery, carrying that thing like a demented life preserver." He's making light of something with the joke that isn't funny. He smiles anyway, sitting back in his chair a little more, eyes turned towards the city, or beyond it. Back into that cave, maybe.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper sits wordlessly in that bridge of silence, her coffee still cradled. There is very little the pair don't talk about, but there are a few things that rarely get broached. Even her dating life is commented upon more than.. other things. (And who has time to date, so that's usually a quick end!)

She knows that tone, the 'everything is okay but nothing is okay' sort of sound. Pushing through to get to the other side and there's nothiing to worry about. One day, Tony will figure out that Pepper is attuned those sounds and doesn't always back off as the warning they are.

It's when he speaks again that Pepper holds her breath, listening to the sound of his words, the thoughts and pictures it evokes as he says them. Even she hadn't gotten the whole story in there; just the small bits that weren't in the sensationalized version by the media. Pictures of the cave, pictures of the surrounding area.. and he's thinking about it again. The tethers.

Knowing that's what is potentially going through his mind, she's made the firm decision that she's not going to leave and leave him to his thoughts. He can sometimes wrap himself around the axle and needs that nudge to get unraveled, and she's there. "You're home," is murmured. "And have not only survived, but are a real hero." She offers a ghost of smile, no doubt unseen in the darkness, but it's there. "Household name. Loved by supermodels and gorgeous actresses everywhere. I think they're just giving you a little breathing room before asking to do a movie on you." That last bit was offered as a light joke, but in some circles, she'd heard rumors that was in the beginning stages.

Tony Stark has posed:
When Tony gets focused on something, it's hard to get him to stop, and extract himself. He doesn't let problems sit, and works tirelessly to troubleshoot something, or even just working on a favorite project. The intense focus is extremely useful, but also a cross to bear, when the focus turns on something difficult, something painful. Something that caused that rising anxiety and panic to feel like his heart was going to beat out of his ears, and he felt the vital urge to get all of those leads off of him, to get out of where he was. The balcony just ended up being where he found himself.

If only he COULD let her distract him with those things. "Well, it's a good thing they're not here right now, huh? Leave the piping hot mess out of the movie," Tony chuckles. He draws both hands out some to rest them on the armrests of his chair, leaning his head back, eyes rolled skyward, lips curled in a slight, subtle smile as he lightly makes fun of himself.

Pepper Potts has posed:
It's a function of his being a genius; the ability to hyper focus on a task. And there are times when he recognizes the need to detach- and that's where she comes in handy. She knows the buttons, when to listen, when to divert, and those diversions are usually set to other much beloved projects or .. vanity cases such as parties. It's a minefield, but it's one that the redhead knows well.

Setting her mug down onto the floor, next to the leg of her chair, she gets out to cross that few foot divide and sits down beside the reclining chair, crossing her legs in front of her. Bridging the distance. "Yeah, well, I'm sorry they're not." No she's not. "But you have me, so you'll have to settle." She has that half-smile on her face as she continues, "And don't say I have to be here because you pay me. This is off the clock stuff."

There's a soft laugh that's chuffed and she lifts a light shoulder to shrug, "I was holding out for someone like Angelina Jolie to play me, but I don't think they're willing to pay that much for me. You, on the other hand?"

Tony Stark has posed:
"I thought you were billing yourself overtime," Tony says in mock surprise, well aware of the reality there. Salary doesn't include that - but it doesn't have to, she's extremely well paid. He's always been devoted to keeping her, and taking care of her in that standpoint. She could retire and be just fine - but Tony certainly expects her not to. He needs her.

"You don't have to sit on the /floor/, Pep. I feel like I'm a dying grandpa, having you at my knee like that," Tony says flippantly. "I'm not brittle; in fact, some of me will be around far longer than anything else in this mansion," Tony jokes, tapping on his arc reactor, and then using his right hand to lead her to sit up, draw her to sit on the arm of his chair.

"Settle? There's no settling with you, you're the best of the best, you know that. I'd employ nothing less," Tony reminds her.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper actually wasn't uncomfortable sitting on the floor; she'd crossed her legs (courtesy of yoga classes) and was feeling a touch.. casual. She actually laughs at the thought of overtime, and shakes her head playfully ruefully, as if it could be seen in the dim, "Salary. I'm not going to be the reason for the company audit." Though he does pay her well, more than most other PAs get from their CEOs. How many times have some tried to headhunt her away?

Exhaling softly, she rises without the use of her hands to help guide her up (wait, she works out?) and taking his to steady her, she shifts her behind a little in order to not crowd him too much while sitting on the arm. "Yeah, well.. you're going to be around a long time, so stop." She stops short of calling him 'grandpa', though. He is sooo.. not. "You are," and here, she takes a breath before, "//still// a rival for the 'Most eligible bachelor' for the cover of GQ." Not to mention 'sexiest man alive', at least in her mind, but she's not quite that ready to go there.

Leaning back, Pepper doesn't want to let go of his hand, the one that he'd extended to aid in lifting her up. Strong, warm hand.

"No, well.. I meant you'll have to settle for me instead of those supermodels that haven't visited yet. I'm sure your office is filled with well wishes." And, it is. Top to bottom, complete with balloons. She smiles as she turns her head to look at him and shifts so she can get her phone from her pocket to show him the picture of said office. "See?"

Tony Stark has posed:
"It's not really a /rival/, more a shoe-in," Tony corrects her as she reminds him about the magazine thing. "And I'm pretty sure I've got 'sexiest man alive'," Tony reminds. She doesn't have to say it, Tony will just fine, shamelessly. "I'll have to put off my photos again, but not too long; managed to not shoot myself in the face this time, so. Bonus." Tony's perking up slowly out of his low place: he's aware of what she's doing, but he wanted to be pulled out of the cave he'd found himself in. He doesn't /want/ to dwell there in the memories that feel as though they might rise and choke him. No, he wants to be in the present.

Tony quirks his brows and takes her phone in his hand as she moves it to show him. "Why are you not using the new 6000 series?" Tony teases her instead, about her STARK industries phone. There's good reason, probably: it's a big thing, not as sleek as this model. "And who left that teddy bear in the chair," Tony asks, amused, smirking and setting his wrist against her thigh, her phone extended up between his fingers, so that she can take the phone back with minimal reaching: on his part and hers. "I like the sunglasses on it, though."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Mmmhmm," comes in response to his 'sexiest man alive' cover suggestion. "If you say so, Mr Stark." It's a playful response, but the affection and warmth is hard to hide in it, even if her face may be shadowed a little still, even in such proximity. "No cuts on your face, so we'll get that photo shoot ready when you're just comfortable in a sling." Bonus!

She can hear him rise from that 'dark place' where he'd been, and there is a great deal of relief emenating from that redhead. He's here, with her, in the present, and they're sharing that darkened balcony, both on the same reclining chair. She's.. closer to him here than she's been before; she can feel his warmth, him brushing against her, and it's .. so nice and so.. conflicting.

Instead of voicing any of that, she lets go of her phone easily for him to get a better look at the pictures she's taken. "The bear.. I couldn't resist the sunglasses. But, if you look back in that corner, those are all deliveries. That one is from the city's ladies auxiliary, that one from the council.. that one.." There are a lot of wrapped boxes. "So, I've had to start looking at the invitations to parties people want to throw in your honor. They're separated by 'personal' and 'civic'. Lots of them."

Tony Stark has posed:
They /are/ close; the arm of the chair is very close in proximity to him. His reaction is differing from hers, though: he just entirely accepts it without issue at all. It's comfortable, it's perfectly /natural/ to have her there: comfortable and easy. Pepper isn't ever a stress factor for him; he doesn't act like someone else, or pretend to be more put together than he really is. He's the honest hot mess, without concern that she'll react poorly to it. Tony at his most shameless, but not brazenly so: more that he just trusts her.

And this can just be them.

Tony is present: or at least fighting to be; he doesn't want to be in the place in his past that seeks to make panic rise in his throat. Though the truth is that it is RIGHT there, just a wayward thought away. "Lots of them, huh? I could use a good party. Once I can do more than just sit here and look pretty, that is," Tony adds.

"I know ... that you're trying to distract me," Tony says to her, with a light flow of smile hooking onto one side of his lips.

"Thanks." He pokes her knee.

Pepper Potts has posed:
It's .. so nice, these moments, though. She wouldn't trade them for the world, and all of this? This is hers to hold; no one else need enter this world of hers.

"Lots of them, and I think that's the point, Mr. GQ. No one is going to ask you what you're working on. They're going to ask if you're still single." She's teasing, but a lot of it is true. Those models, those actresses only want to look good hanging off his arm.

Still... and she rests her head back before rolling her head to the side, though she lifts her knee slightly as it's gently poked. She breathes a soft laugh, and the smile remains in the dark of the night, "No I'm not. I'm just trying to remind you that millions of people love you, you're going to grace the cover of at least one magazine issue this year, and that your personal assistant desperately needs a date for the Met Gala in a little under a week." Green eyes still peer through the darkness, looking at his face, and her brows rise, "Know anyone who would be up for the sheer boredom of a high society party thrown by the Museum?"

Tony Stark has posed:
"Sheer /boredom/? You're really selling it," Tony laughs, but then coughs deeply and winces, drawing in a deep but ragged breath. He laughed too much, it hurt the ribs. He is immediately drawn out of the content of what they're talking about to straighten up, trying to find a way to adjust his body to where things hurt less. Even so, a little sweat shows on his brow near the side of his dark hair at the temple. /Ow/. A problem with being off the medication turns out to be pain.

"Oof. Don't be too funny, you'll stab me in the chest," Tony chuckles softly, but clears his throat, bearing through it. "Then all those millions will be very sad. Don't make the millions sad, Pep."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper begins to laugh, but then hears the draw of air, the bark of a laugh before.. pain. Pepper's moving to give him a little room to flounder a touch to get a good grip and get comfortable. "Tony.." and that concern is easily heard through that single word.

She raises a hand to lay it gently on his arm, trying to comfort at a touch. "You'll be around for those millions." She pauses before, "Do you want me to take you home?"

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony weighs her question, looking out over the balcony towards where Stark Tower is located. He's really gauging the question; there are pros and cons to that. And to the weird mixture of that this is his former home.

"That is really not a bad idea," Tony grants her. "Maybe the change of scenery out of here would help." Tony looks at her. "That's why you earn the big bucks, isn't it? Taking good care of me." Tony rotates his arm to catch at the hand that she put on him forearm with his right hand, rubbing across her fingers with his thumb, and trying to moderate his breathing so as to not be so... deep.

Pepper Potts has posed:
She knows this was his home, but the fact that he escaped the basement in a need to get to air, and the Tower? It's his present reality, his home. It's open, it's familiar, and it has all his //stuff//.

Pepper is here, and she's willing to take him where he'd like to go. "I think it'd help, yes. You've laid down in that hospital bed long enough, I think." To the point where it's starting to become detrimental, in her mind anyway.

Setting her feet on the ground, she's loathe to lose that contact she has, and she breathes a quiet chuckle at the 'big bucks'. "I.. it pays the rent." There's the pause before, "But I told you, I'm off the clock," is reminded softly.

Pepper tries to look at Tony's face, trying to see him in the dim light of the evening's city lights that seem so far away, even though they're close. The sound of trafffic also seems far off, but all she has to do is make a single phone call, and they'll be back to the Tower within minutes. Then, he'll be back in his own bed, in his own familiar surroundings.

"I'm here because I want to be." Beat, and her tones echo the smile that rises, "And to remind you of your photo shoots."

Tony Stark has posed:
"All right then, make it so, number one," Tony says, in his best nerdy Star Trek captain voice, with a grand little motion of hand as if he were royalty deciding that it is time for all of his guests to finally partake of the feast. Still, there's a relief to him, just under that amused layer of grandeur. "I don't like staying here very much. I mean, it's /fine/, and I've certainly spruced the place up..."

Tony begins to draw his hand down to the armrest now that Pepper is on her feet, and uses it to leverage up. He isn't really slow or cautious about it: all or nothing, sometimes, with Tony Stark.

And it works, he gets to his feet, though he leaves his left arm close to his abdomen, in lieu of having a sling for it, while he walks over to where she put his coffee down to rescue it and take a big drink of it.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper smiles at the imperious command, and as she retrieves her phone from the seat, activates the screen so she can make the call. It's one of two 'speed dial' entries, as it were. "It's a nice place, but I get lost in it," she admits as she listens for the ringing on the other end.

Tony's push up to his feet almost gives her a heart attack, and she's putting out an arm quickly in case he needs a little stability. "Oh god, Tony.." but, it looks like he's doing okay on his feet, and that last bit "-ony" was caught just as a certain all-arounder picks up the phone, the familiar voice coming through sleepily, but there.

"Hey.. you guys okay?" Apparently there's the assumption she's with Tony.

"Yes, we're fine," is answered, though green eyes watch Tony like a hawk. "Can you come pick us up at the Mansion? We'll be outside, waiting."

"Sure.. sure.. be there in 10."

Pepper acknowledges before closing the connection and setting the phone back into a small pocket. "Okay. We'll get you home, get you comfortable..and you won't have to worry about Homer spilling the beans if you do something dumb." Yup.. dumb.

She's standing there for a moment before she exhales, and she approaches him, taking only a couple of steps to close that distance. "You need a sling for that. You can't keep just holding it up."

Tony Stark has posed:
"There's one in my room--- my /former/ room -- down in medical, if you want to grab it. By that time I may have made it all on my own to the driveway," Tony teases her. "I made it up here and everything; no collapses are in my immediate future." He can tell she's worried and highly reactive to his pain, and he adjusts a little to mask it more.

To not make her worry.

Because Tony does care. And he's steering them back inside through the door, while drinking the coffee she'd brought him. "JARVIS, you can bug me again now," Tony asserts to the ceiling.

"Understood, sir," JARVIS says, in a voice that is patient but also somehow a little dismayed.

Pepper Potts has posed:
She worries, she most certainly does... but the last thing she wants is for him to hide it to save her feelings. She'd much rather know than not. That way she can plan for what he actually needs. Pepper makes a soft sound in her throat as acknowledgment, and nods, even if the gesture can't be seen in the dark. "I'll go get it. If I'm not back in 10, send out the dogs because I'll be lost." She's kidding! Really!

There, Pepper knows how to deflect too.

Pepper lets herself be steered, walking slowly so as not to outpace the injured Tony. Once through, and there's lights on and she gets a good look at him before they part company for a few minutes. He's masking the pain, but there are little tells. She's not going to call him on them, though. She'll give him that.

When the pair get to the spot where Pepper has to leave to get to the medbay, she offers a quick almost shy smile and, "I'll be right there," before turning down her corridor, and the stairwell downstairs to the basement.

Tony Stark has posed:
"I don't send dogs, I send eerie flying drones, like a proper mad scientist," Tony reminds automatically, with an air that does, in fact, help to mask pain. Tony is good at his bigger-than-life persona: because in many ways, it really is him. He is both things: both the loud and playful extrovert, as well as the focused engineer. Tony and his layers.

"Urg, why did we put so many stairs," he does complain, but he got up there, and he can get down again. He's outside when Pepper rejoins him, one-handedly going through some things on his phone. Some social media posting, showing off how healthy he is with the Avengers mansion behind him and some flippant comment with it. He's showing the world how alive and just fine he obviously is.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Send something that makes cute *beep* noises." There's a pause before, "Sorry, JARVIS. I know you wouldn't let me get lost."

Pepper descends into the basement, and with each step she can completely understand why Tony wanted to get away. She holds the railing as she takes the steps quickly and easily before looking around in the medlab for said sling. Finding it after a few moments of searching, and as she turns to head back up, something catches her eye. Not quite sure what it is, because lord knows there's lot of things around here she doesn't know what they do, she's more than happy to not worry about it for the moment. She's got somewhere to go!

Emerging from the basement, Pepper has a hurried step, even though she's pretty sure they won't leave her behind. Once she hits the large door, she's through, to see the tail end of Tony's social media'ing. She pauses in her step, her shoulders holding that hint of a slouch while //that// smile creases her face. "Okay, that is going to rack up a million likes between now and when we get back to the Tower. Just trust me on this one." She steps up to her employer, and holds up the sling in gesture, "Let's get this on you, and go home."

Tony Stark has posed:
"I'm okay, just hang onto it for now," Tony says, extending his hand to pat the sling in a way that suggests he doesn't want it. "Rather have a little pain than have anything strangling me at the moment, is all." He's still feeling the edge of claustrophobia from whatever his difficulty was, his dream, or the mire of thoughts that came up.

"I won't wrench my shoulder just in a car ride. I save that for heroing," Tony clarifies. He's spotted the approaching car, and moves over that way, though he doesn't try to beat her to the car. "Not a million and one? Too backlit for your taste?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Hmmm.. too much mansion and not enough you," is said lightly as she looks from the picture to the oncoming car. Pepper keeps the sling, then, and walks beside Tony to the car. Once they get closer, of course their ever loyal chauffeur, security head, etc emerges from the front seat to open the door to the back; it's a gesture always done. Nothing new there.

Pepper smiles and offers a quick thanks before she climbs into the car first. Shifting over to the side, she looks back expectantly. "If we take the long way home, I think it might tick up to a million and a half." There's a pause for effect before she lifts a hand to point in the air, "Maybe."

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony was looking down at his phone and didn't pay any attention to the whole door-opening-thing. He takes many things for granted, as a billionaire, and his employees opening doors and anticipating his needs just kind of goes right along with that. That coffee mug is somewhere inside the mansion to be discovered and cleaned up -- possibly by one of the little robots or a Steve that is rolling his eyes...

"It's late and I'm going to get back on some happy medicine, so let's not take any scenic routes," Tony clarifies to the driver while he gets inside, still evaluating his picture, but then leaves it alone. He's painfully photogenic, and he knows it.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper glances over as Tony gets in as well, and the door is closed behind them. It's a nice silence, taking the city streets at night is a nice tour without it having to be drawn out. She holds the sling on her lap, her legs crossed in the spacious back seat.

"We'll get you back and settled. I have a few more things I need to do before I go home for the night." A few phone calls to contacts across the globe, then a quiet search through a catalog for the perfect dress for the Gala coming up. That, though, can be done at home.

As promised, the car pulls into the so very familiar parking garage, only to have it climb the ramp up to where the private parking area lies. Pulling up to the private entrance that leads to the elevator (that Thor had broken), one of Pepper's priorities was to get that working again, and quickly.

The door opens, allowing Tony his exit, which would be followed by Pepper's. They're away from prying eyes, that is, the paparazzi.