Epilogue

Tony stared at the silent procession of people in front of him. The men, women and children that were gathered around the grave were all dressed in black as was customary in these kinds of events. His eyes fell on the luxurious mahogany coffin, shining at its brightest before it became one with the six feet of dirt that would cover it for eternity and beyond. He had attended two of these ceremonies before, but it never made it easier on a person to be an expert in funerals and burials.

"It's rude to stare, you know?" James Rhodes whispered to his friend and sat next to him on the bench Tony was on. "I'm sure they want some privacy right now."

Tony's eyes remained on the inconsolable crying couple in front of them, their moans digging a hole in the scientist's heart and soul.

"Who the hell thought it was a good idea to build a hospital next to a cemetery? What are they trying to say? 'If you come here and don't make it, you don't have to go far to die'? Or, 'Hey, we have 2x1 deal! Use our ambulances and browse our graveyard for the price of one ride! Supplies are limited?'"

"That's really morbid, Tony."

"I'm not the one who built the fucking hospital next to the graveyard."

"I take it that you've heard, then?" Rhodey inquired, already being able to tell that the information he had brought to relay to Tony was already in the possession of the inventor.

"Gene told me," Tony shrugged. "It seems Whitney's gonna stay in The Void for a long-ass time."

Rhodey nodded in agreement and they both remained silent for a few minutes as the ceremony before them began wrapping up. "It might be reversible, Tony. Did Gene tell you that?"

"Yeah," Tony responded. "He also showed me what Whitney did to her and, you know what? He was right. I would've wanted to kill her, too."

Tony's fists clenched in anger and Rhodey's eyes flew to the scientist's hands when he heard his knuckles pop with the force he was placing on his bones.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'll help her recover what she lost. I'll help her get her life back."

"Do you think that's for the best? Don't you think she's better off not knowing how she ended up like this?"

"I don't know," Tony admitted as he watched the thinning crowd of the burial happening across the street. "But she deserves to remember that I care about her, and that I'm sorry for what I did to her. She deserves to know she's not alone."

"Even if she decides not to be alone by being with someone else other than you?"

Tony's lips thinned with Rhodey's question. The inventor was not unaware that Pepper's life could take a different turn now, including falling in love with someone else – and he had to let that happen. After what she had been put through, Tony had accepted that if she decided to see him as nothing more than just a friend for the rest of her new life, he was going to suck it up and help her go through with whatever she wanted to do about the two of them.

"Don't mean I can't try, right?" Tony asked back.

"When are you going to start?" Rhodey queried when Tony stood up from the bench and stretched his arms above his head. "You haven't even seen her since she woke up."

"Right about now seems like a good time," Tony responded as he stared down at his watch.

"You only have five minutes left of visiting hours," Rhodey reminded him.

"That's all I need for now."

The boy waved goodbye to his friend and began his way to the hospital where Pepper was recovering from her injuries, all the while thinking about the irony that it was that Pepper had wanted to go back to the time when she was unaware of many things, and she had gotten exactly what she had wished for…

…with the single negative caveat that she had forgotten it all.

The End

A/N: WUT? WUT? Who is up for a sequel? Because that is exactly what you're going to get! Go read it right now! It's Called "The Last Summer." Thank you all for sticking around and I hope you loved it!