marienomad

Title: Retail Therapy
Notes and Disclaimer: This is a sequel to 'Because She Loved Him'. All characters belong to Marvel. There is a mention of a movie called 'A Scanner Darkly'. Thanks to arcanelegacy and nani1986 for the help.
Word Count: 1,100
Summary: Pepper copes in her new life without Tony with a friend and some shopping.
Fandom: Iron Man
Author: Marie Nomad

The sun shone as Pepper slowly got up. She glanced at her clock - it was seven o'clock in the morning. Even without a job, she still wake up at an early hour. She went though the ritual of taking a shower and getting dressed. It had been a week since she left Stark Industries and Tony and she still had not heard from him.

"TV on. CNN," Pepper spoke as she started to brew some coffee. Tony had built this just for her.

"And Stark Industries stock prices had fallen another five points today. People are wondering if Iron Man has now rusted."

"Change channel. TNT."

"What does a scanner see? Into the head? Into the heart? Does it see into me? Clearly? Or darkly?"

"Oh, Keanu." Pepper sighed as she sipped some coffee. There was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Pepper," Janet gushed as she bounced in. "How's it going?"

"I'm fine," Pepper lied as she let the girl in. Janet was a new member of the Avengers. She was young and spunky and thankfully was one of the few socialites who had never slept with Tony Stark. She partnered up with Hank Pym to become the Wasp. She was nice and friendly and really didn't care much about her wealth.

"As if. My wasp sense tells me that you are still nursing a broken heart. I recommend going on a round of retail therapy. Come on! It will be fun!"

Pepper ran her hand through her long red hair as she thought about it. She had been trying to keep herself busy, trying to find a way to keep going. She had even been looking through the various job offers that she received. "Well... it might be nice to get out for a while."

"Atta girl! Let's go!" Janet said as Pepper got out her purse.

Pepper felt strange as she walked down the street with Janet. Why did it feel like that everyone was staring at her? "I can't do this," Pepper whispered to Janet. "People are staring at me."

"Chillax. It's just your imagination. Look! Special on Jimmy Choos."

Slowly, Pepper felt more comfortable as she embraced her inner shopper. She tried on a few shoes and finally settled on a pair of black shoes that had straps on the top and settled on her foot comfortably. After properly getting the shoes, they sat at a cafe and again, she felt like the world was watching her every step.

"Did I do the right thing?" Pepper asked Janet. "Breaking up with Tony?"

Janet sipped her tea. "I don't know. All I know is that the only one who can save Tony is Tony. No matter what, we're here for you."

"Thanks."

Janet's card beeped with the phrase, "Avengers Assemble!" She held it up as words flashed across the screen. "I have to go." Janet promptly put cash on the table and she shrank down to her superhero form. Her clothes had morphed into her costume with her purse put away in her pouch. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. Just wait for me at the bookstore."

"Be careful, Janet."

The tiny woman just flew off.

Pepper sat in the bookstore just across from the cafe. She hated the waiting game no matter who she had to wait for. At least with Tony, JARVIS could update her in case of an emergency. Now, she felt alone and helpless. She called up the Internet on her blackberry and started to search for news on the latest battle. Finally, she found pictures of the Avengers fighting some giant robot. To her surprise, War Machine was there but not Iron Man. What happened to Tony? Did the Avengers have enough of his antics and just kicked him off of the team? Or did he get hurt and he had to heal? She turned off the blackberry and found a cookbook to flip through.

"I'm back." Janet seemed to appear out of nowhere and Pepper nearly jumped. "You okay?"

"I guess." Pepper took a deep breath. "I saw pictures of the battle. Why was Rhodey there and not Tony?"

"Tony... Tony's on probation and was put on back up. The Colonel ordered it and we agreed. I'm sorry."

Pepper shook her head. She knew that Tony's ego was wounded by the probation but if his drinking keeps him from fighting his best against these supervillians, then he should be kept away. "How did he take it?"

"Badly."

"Did he... did he at least decide to get help?" Pepper had a moment of hope. If Tony realized how much danger he put himself in, maybe, just maybe he would put away his ego and find some help.

Janet just looked down and closed her eyes and Pepper's heart plunged.

"I see."

"We are not going to give up on him. Don't worry."

"I'm not." Pepper's chest tightened up as she fought the urge to cry. "I'm so mad and I don't know why! I hate this. I want to help Tony but I don't know how! Why can't I save him?"

"I don't know but there is a chance." Janet looked around and whispered, "We are going to pull an intervention on Tony in a couple of days."

"An intervention?"

"Yeah. You know, like that TV show? We are going to do everything we can but if this fail... we can't have a drunk Iron Man on the team."

Pepper paled. Tony hates being confronted but this might be his only chance to be saved from himself. "Who is going to be there?"

"The most of the team, the Colonel, Rhodey, and Happy. Bruce didn't want to get stressed out at the intervention but he will help out. We need you to be there if you can."

"If it will save Tony. Besides, that's why I quit. If Tony doesn't accept it, then I can't go back no matter what." Pepper's heart broke as she said it out loud.

"Hey, I'm here for you." Janet took her hand. "I've been through a few relationships myself and we're friends."

"Thanks for the day out. I needed it." Pepper hugged the girl.

"Yeah. I'll call you about details of the intervention. But, I have to go. I have to check on the ants. Bye."

"Okay."

Janet walked off and Pepper closed the door. She flung off her shoes and lie down on the couch. It had been a long day but it felt good to get out. Maybe, there could be some hope for Tony if this intervention goes as planned. If he could just admit that he needed help, she could be with him again. But, she had to be realistic. "TV on. CNN," she ordered.

"Tony Stark had been arrested after being caught driving around naked while tossing stuffed animals out of his car."

The End?