CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

MISS PALMER

The first thing to catch her attention is the sign. It's a perfectly normal sign, the kind that chauffeurs waiting at the airport hold up all the time: a white piece of paper with a neat black text. There's nothing unusual about the sign as it's exactly the same as dozens of other signs next to it.

Except none of those signs have the words Miss Palmer on them and this one does.

The second thing she notices is the tall, gray-haired man with a mustache holding the sign. He's not a chauffeur, definitely not. He looks like the guy who's supposed to get picked up rather than the guy doing the picking up. And Happy promised to pick her up himself; he never sends anyone else.

The man looks very familiar, but she can't quite place him.

"Miss Palmer?" the man asks, obviously noticing her noticing the sign.

"Yes?"

He leads her away from the crowd of arriving passengers before extending out his hand. "Secretary Ross. State Department."

Oh. This guy.

"Oh, right, I know you. You look taller in person," Pearl says, firmly keeping both hands on her luggage.

"Did you enjoy your stay in Wakanda?" Ross asks.

"Sure. It's a beautiful country," she says with a smile. The fact that he knows doesn't surprise her, even though he clearly hoped it would.

"And the reason for your visit?"

"My flight miles were about to expire."

His voice deepens. "It would be wise not to lie to me, Miss Palmer. We haven't stopped looking for Steve Rogers and we're not about to."

"Right. Well, good luck with that. If I hear anything, I'll let you know," Pearl says and starts to step past him, but he holds out his arm to block her path.

"I know you visited Rogers."

His intense stare could probably scare the pants off someone, but Pearl simply smiles sweetly. "I'd rather not comment without an attorney present."

"You are an attorney."

She laughs, much to his growing annoyment. "I can't really trust myself right now. Pregnancy brain, you know?"

"Yes, yes, of course. Tony Stark's little lovechild," Ross says, glaring at her stomach. Again, he stares straight into her eyes. "It is his, isn't it?"

"Why do you care?" she asks with a scoff. Five minutes in the States and she's already being grilled about the father, as if she hasn't just spent the whole plane ride obsessing over it and needs a reminder.

"I don't, but I know a handful of scientists who'd kill for a chance to study your child if it were the offspring of a supersoldier, for example."

What?

Pearl wonders much the government actually knows about her and if she's on some sort of a watch list. Is this guy really here to find out Steve's whereabouts or to see if she's carrying a miniature Winter Soldier in her womb? Taken aback, she doesn't let it show. "Well, I guess they'll just have to find another baby to experiment on."

Again, she steps past him, only to be blocked.

"This is a serious matter, Miss Palmer. Withholding information makes you an accomplice."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Well, that changes everything. I certainly don't want the government to think I'm withholding information. The reason I went to Wakanda was…" Digging through her handbag, Pearl pulls out a purple box. "This tea."

Through gritted teeth, Ross asks, "Tea?"

"Yeah, you like tea?" Pearl asks, trying to remain upbeat. He isn't amused, and she decides the vein popping on his forehead is his way of saying no. "Me neither. But this stuff, like… I don't even know. You can't get this anywhere else."

"I'm glad you find this so amusing. We'll see how you feel when we bring you in for questioning."

She wants to laugh, but decides that might be too much. Tucking the box of tea back into her bag, she simply shrugs and stares at him with a blank look. "Get a warrant, and then we'll talk."

This time, he doesn't try to block her path. She stops right beside him and stares right into his eyes. "And good luck with that. I hear judges really like it when you bug them with trivial nonsense like this."

Happy's already waiting for her outside the terminal. Spotting her, he rushes over and almost tears her bags away, even after she convinces him that it's fine and they're not heavy.

"I just had an interesting conversation with Secretary Ross," she says, putting on her seatbelt in the back of his car. "He grilled me about the father of my baby, saying scientists are just dying to get their hands on the child of a supersoldier."

Happy glances at her through the rearview mirror. "You told him it's Tony's, right?"

"Yeah, but how the hell did he know about me and Bucky?"

"He didn't. He thought you went to see Steve."

"What?" Pearl shrieks out.

Steve? Steve? Pearl isn't sure if she should rejoice in the government's lack of knowledge about her sex life or throw up in her mouth at the mere thought of having sex with Steve. Obviously, he's a handsome man, but it's Steve. Not only is he the most non-sexual person she's ever met, and that's counting about thirty-five nuns, but he's also like a brother.

"For the record, I told Tony that if he really wants to help, he needs a better plan," Happy says as he switches lanes. "But does he ever listen?"

"No?" she answers, as Happy clearly waits for an answer to his apparently non-rhetorical question.

"No," he confirms.

"What are you talking about? What plan?"

Happy glances at her again with a hesitant look, as if he's trying to decide whether or not to tell her. Then he begins to speak.

"Well, after the press started reporting about you and the baby, Ross stopped by the compound. He'd seen the headlines and put two and two together about your trip to Wakanda. He said Steve's baby could hold the key to re-creating the Super Soldier Serum." He glances at her again, only to be met with a completely dumbfounded look. "So Tony, being Tony, told Ross the baby is definitely his. Showed him an ultrasound picture and everything. I personally think he overdid the whole proud father act."

"How did I not know any of this?"

"He didn't want you to worry. He even told his PR people to make sure the whole world thinks this is his baby and come up with a plausible excuse for it."

"Oh, God. Pregnancy has made me so dumb," Pearl says and sinks further into the comfortable seat. "I bought all of it."

"Lucky for you, so did Ross."

"But why? Why would Tony do this?"

"You know why."

As Happy merges onto the expressway, Pearl sits in silence.

She knew Tony was still harbouring some feelings towards her, but if Sam and Steve are right, he was also disappointed about the baby not being his. And for him to do something like this; to claim the baby as his to keep it safe and then to see the headlines day after day, constantly reminding him that it's not, and pretending that it's all for some PR fluff… Pearl can't begin to imagine what that must be like, other than straight up miserable and depressing.

But he did it, for her.

And she left him with the eighteenth century equivalent of a text message. The letter. The fucking letter.

Even if he couldn't care less about the baby, it's obvious his feelings for her are far more substantial than she ever imagined, or maybe she knew all along and it was just easier to pretend not to. It was definitely easier to write the letter than face him, but it must have hurt him a thousand times more than she ever intended. Maybe she should've known better than to write it in the first place.

Suddenly, Pearl feels incredibly selfish.

"Why do you think he never had children?" Pearl asks, and Happy perks up to look at her in the mirror.

"Who? Tony?"

Pearl nods.

Happy shrugs. "Well, he's not a very traditional guy. He doesn't come from a family like yours."

"But don't you think he would've had children by now, if he wanted them?"

"I don't know. Not necessarily. Howard was well over fifty when Tony was born."

"But that's just it. Men can reproduce until they die, basically, but women can't," Pearl says. "And Pepper's not exactly a spring chicken. Do you know if they ever talked about it?"

"Can't say that it ever came up."

"Right, right." Pearl thinks for a moment, trying not to be annoyed by the fact that he clearly doesn't know anything. She scooches forward on her seat and sticks her head between the front seats. "What about-"

Happy cuts her off with a swift hand motion. "Look, as much as I'm enjoying this conversation, I'm gonna save both of us some time. The baby's Tony's, isn't it?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"No, it was really subtle. I'm just that good," Happy says dryly, but the corner of his lip curls upwards. "You wanna go tell him?"

Pearl sighs. "I guess there's no point in delaying the inevitable. Is he at the compound?"

"No, he's at Peter's high school."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. I tuned out the second he said the words Peter and high school."

They're already in Queens, so the drive to Peter's school isn't long and doesn't give Pearl much of a chance to figure out what she'll say to Tony. As Happy drops her off in front of the Midtown School of Science and Technology, he asks if she'd like some company, but she refuses. Walking up the stairs, she sees a massive school building and wonders what the hell is Tony even doing here and how the hell is she supposed to find him.

She enters into a big, empty hallway. Passing by the lockers and classrooms, she walks ahead and hears sounds coming from further away, so she keeps walking towards them in hopes of finding someone to point her in the right direction. Teachers, students or even a janitor would suffice, really.

The next hallway is buzzing with students, but she spots him instantly. Standing by big double doors, leaning on the wall with his phone in hand, he looks as sharp as always.

"Tony!" she shouts out, catching the attention of some students around her.

He turns to look, but does not look happy to see her. Pearl feels a chill pulsing through her whole body, but walks up to him.

"Why are you here?" he asks.

"I know about Ross."

Why that's the first thing to come to her mind, she has no idea. He's mad, of course he is, and it makes her nervous. She wasn't expecting a warm welcome, but a part of her still hoped he'd be so happy to see her he'd forget to be angry.

"Yes, well, I'm working on that. The public will know the truth soon enough. Or a version of the truth, anyway."

"That's not-" She pauses. "I mean, thank you. I can't believe you did that."

His eyes meet hers, and she tries to find warmth or emotion, but he gives nothing away. If anything, there's pain, but even that quickly disappears.

"What happened with RoboCop?" he asks.

"We kissed."

The moment the words come out, Pearl wants to literally slam a palm to her face. He doesn't need to know this. He doesn't need to know about Ross. Right now he doesn't need to know anything beyond what she came here to tell him, and yet that seems to be the only thing left unsaid.

His expression tightens. "If you came back just to tell me you're moving to Wakanda, you shouldn't have bothered."

"That's not-" Pearl pauses again. She doesn't want to just blurt out the hopefully happy news. "Could we go somewhere and talk?"

A dark haired boy peeks his head out a door marked 'backstage'. "Mister Stark, one minute!"

"Thanks, sport," Tony says. "You heard the man. You have one minute."

Pearl lets out an exasperated sigh. "One minute is not enough."

"Then I guess we're done here." He turns to follow the boy, his hand already on the door, but stops abruptly. He turns back to her. "And to be honest, I don't really want to hear anything you have to say."

"I get it; you're mad. But can I just-"

"I'm sorry if things didn't go the way you planned, but I have no interest in being your second choice."

Pearl swallows back tears. She knows that's how this looks, like Bucky didn't want her or he was too unstable, so she's come running back to the guy she always seems to run to. The guy who's always there to pick her up when she falls, even if it means getting hurt in the process.

Except this time, he's had enough.

"You're not my second choice," she manages to say feebly.

The boy appears from behind the door again. "Mister Stark, if you'd follow me."

Tony turns away again. With no idea where he's going or how long he'll be and certain he won't want to hear her out later any more than he does now, Pearl decides it's time to stop hesitating. Whatever happens next, happens.

"Bucky's sterile," she says and watches as he slowly turns back around. The boy is motioning towards the open door. Pearl stares straight into Tony's wide, questioning eyes and says, "HYDRA's experiments made him sterile. This isn't his baby."

For a second, or a part of one, Tony stands there stunned, but his reaction is cut short.

"This way, Mister Stark," the boy says, quickly ushering him through the open door.

Tony glances back one more time, and Pearl can almost see the wheels turning in his head before the door closes with a soft click, leaving her standing there alone. She's not really sure what she expected to happen, but the door remains closed.

A familiar voice from behind calls out to her, "Hey! Lawyer lady!"

She turns around to see Peter walking over with a goofy smile on his face and can't help but laugh a little. "I have a name, you know."

"I'm sorry, Miss Palmer. I got overly excited. Mister Stark did not tell me you were coming," Peter says and motions towards the double doors, which have been opened for students pouring through them. "You can sit with me. This is going to be so cool."

Peter leads her into an auditorium that seems to be quickly filling up. He finds them two open seats six rows from the stage, which is set up with some lights and three chairs: one on the left and two on the right.

"What is going on?" Pearl asks as two students come out on stage. One of them is the boy from before and the other is a girl, who looks about ready to pass out.

"It's career week, and Mister Stark agreed to an interview in front of the whole school," Peter explains.

The two students stand at the front of the stage. The boy taps his microphone and waits for the room to quiet down. After a few cheers from the audience, he begins, "Thank you and welcome. Today you will all have an opportunity to learn from one of the great minds of our time."

The girl continues, her voice shaking a little as she reads from a little flash card, "He's a t-true pioneer in the field of technology and business."

"Please welcome to the stage, Mister Tony Stark!" they shout out together.

The auditorium erupts into thunderous applause as Tony walks out. He doesn't look like a man who has just received big, life changing news, but that doesn't really surprise Pearl. He's had a lot of practice hiding his true feelings. The interviewers guide him to sit down.

"This is like a big deal to you guys, isn't it?" Pearl whispers.

"Mister Stark's a genius," Peter whispers back before aggressively shushing her and turning his focus to what's happening on stage.

Pearl does the same. She watches and listens as Tony answers questions about his education, his career path and how one might go about getting into his field. As the interviewers start approaching the topic of college, Pearl wonders if he knew what he was signing up for. This particular school might have above average students, but they're still naive teens, who just need someone to point them in the right direction.

Tony looks around the audience, "The truth is, you-"

His words cut off right as his eyes land on Pearl. A cold chill runs through her body and she doesn't know whether to smile or not, because he doesn't look happy, mad or sad. He just looks really taken aback.

Quickly, he snaps back into reality. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"What do you think is the most important aspect of choosing a college?" the boy repeats.

"And what was I saying?"

Tony continues on with the interview, answering question after question and occasionally making the audience laugh. He glances towards her a few times and each time the same chill runs through her body, eventually prompting Peter to ask if she's cold and if she'd like to borrow his hoodie.

Time seems to go slower than usual. The clock on the auditorium wall claims only thirty minutes have passed since her big revelation, but it feels as though she's sat there for half a day. Peter looks enthralled, as do most around them, but Pearl can't bring herself to focus. Fifteen minutes pass until another set of laughs from the audience snaps her out of thought.

As the commotion dies down, the boy on stage asks Tony, "And now, how about some questions from the audience?"

"Absolutely. Fire away."

A number of students raise their hands. The boy motions towards a pair of girls in the fourth row, who stand up. One of them nudges the other with her elbow, prompting her to speak.

"Hi, Mister Stark. We just wanted to know if it's true you're having a baby?"

As a barely audible gasp leaves Pearl's lips, Peter gives her a funny look. Suddenly, she's absolutely focused.

The silent girl lets out an involuntary giggle, and some students snicker. A teacher from the front row stands up and looks towards the girls with a stern expression. "Girls, this isn't gossip hour. Don't waste this opportunity on frivolity."

"No, it's, um, it's fine," Tony says, much to Pearl's surprise. He could've taken the out and agreed with the teacher. He could've asked for another question. She can feel her breathing slowing down and her neck burning up with anticipation. His eyes find hers once again, but this time there's a warmth in them.

He smiles. "The truth is… Yes, I am having a baby."

The enthusiastic girls look like they're about to go for a follow-up question, but the teacher quickly motions for them to sit down. While the interviewers scan the crowd for the next question, Peter leans in and whispers, "When I asked him he said it wasn't true."

"He didn't know," Pearl says, completely dumbfounded by what just happened, and seeing the extremely baffled expression on Peter's face, adds, "It's a long story. And you're too young to hear it."

"I'm older than I look," he says with a pout.

"You look sixteen."

"I have more life experience than your average sixteen-year-old."

"True," she admits.

"But you won't tell me?"

"It's not really a story that makes me look all that great."

"I find that hard to believe. The way Mister Stark talks about you… If he said you can walk on water, I'd probably believe it."

Pearl smiles at him before looking to the stage again. Tony's moved on to another subject, talking about thermodynamics—or at least that's what she gathers, not really understanding most of the words coming out of his mouth. An enthusiastic student in the audience nods along.

He could've asked for another question.

He could've. Instead, he chose to tell this auditorium full of high schoolers the truth. And he smiled. Pearl wonders if this could really be that simple.

The interview draws to a close and people begin exiting the auditorium. Once they're back in the hallway, Peter nudges Pearl's elbow.

"Look." He hands her his phone.

"Iron Baby is trending on Twitter? How is this possible? It's literally been ten minutes."

Peter shrugs. "Somebody filmed it and put it on YouTube."

She can't help but roll her eyes. Of course someone was filming the interview instead of actually focusing on and living in the moment. She scrolls through some of the comments, most of them offering congratulations, some rejoicing over Tony finally confirming what they've all known for so long and a select few voicing their overly negative opinions.

"What is with your generation and their obsession with documenting everything?" she asks, handing him his phone back.

"I think that got passed down from your generation," Peter says cautiously, as if to avoid upsetting her further.

"Sometimes I hate modern technology."

"I know. Mister Stark told me."

Pearl laughs. The kids around them file off and scatter around the hallway or head to class, but a few lurk near the backstage door, probably hoping for autographs before being ushered away by a teacher. Peter leaves, but only after he makes her promise she'll thank Mister Stark for coming today and tell him congratulations on Peter's behalf.

Feeling slightly uneasy, she waits in the hallway for Tony to come out. There's no way this is so easy; there has to be something. An hour ago he didn't even want to see her.

When the backstage door finally opens, she looks up to see Tony with another teacher, who seems to be fawning over him even more than the students earlier.

"That was really great, Mister Stark! You truly gave these kids some-"

The second he spots her, Tony cuts off the teacher. "Excuse me, there's something I need to do."

Her hands shake as he strides over with determination. He stops right in front of her and the million questions and thoughts running through her mind—what happens now, how do you feel, I'm sorry, we really need to talk, Peter says congratulations—just cease to exist the moment he cups her face between his hands and leans in to kiss her.

He kisses her deeply, lovingly and she follows his lead, sinking further and further into the kiss. Her hands stop shaking, as do her thoughts.

As they pull apart, she can see he's smiling wide.

"I can't believe I had to wait an hour to do that."