Chapter 15

Once Pepper had buckled Dane into his seat she left him with Edna and walked back to the galley area of the plane to call Anna so Dane wouldn't be able to hear her conversation. She had given Anna a very convincing story about Dane being ill, and Anna ended the call saying that she would check up on Dane tomorrow evening. Tony had assured Pepper that Jarvis had bounced her cell phone's signal around which meant that if Shield became suspicious for whatever reason and tried to triangulate her cell signal, it would appear to have originated from the Potts' farm.

After the call to Anna, the plane immediately taxied down the runway amid all of the traffic safety lights and quickly took off. Pepper watched Dane with curiosity as he stared out the window intently. Dane was every excited during takeoff, but as soon as the plane reached cruising altitude and speed, she could tell that he had started to get a little bored…just like someone else she knew, she thought with a small smile.

"How long will it take to get to California?" he asked, turning towards her in his seat.

"Around 4 hours, honey," Pepper said ruffling his dark hair.

"What do you say we eat dinner now?" Edna proposed leaning towards Dane.

"Oh, yes! I'm starving!" Dane exclaimed suddenly aware of his empty stomach.

Pepper smiled at her son's reaction. Dane was always happy at the mention of food. He reminds her so much… Her thoughts and her gaze turning to Tony who was sitting in a seat as far away from them as possible but still be in the same cabin with them, intently discussing something with Jarvis, his smart tablet in his hands.

Edna unbuckled her seat belt and stood up, cautiously walking through the cabin obviously not at all used to flying. She reached up to pull the stowed bag in which she packed the food down from a secured rack. She then cautiously carried the bag over to the bench style table near the galley and started to place the food on the table in between four seats.

Dane quickly unbuckled his seat belt and scrambled out of his seat, not slowing down at all to get his 'air legs'. Pepper suddenly realized that Dane appeared to be as comfortable in the air as he was on the ground. She absolutely refused to think about the future repercussions of this 'skill' of Dane's.

"Mashed potatoes!" exclaimed Dane plopping down into the closest seat at the table. "Nice!"

Pepper followed Dane and adjusted the safety belts on Dane's new seat and buckled him in securely. She was always cautious while flying, and even though the SI pilots had predicted smooth air the entire flight, she would not take chances with Dane's safety. Dane didn't seem to mind at all being strapped into the seat.

Pepper took her seat next to Dane and across from her mother as they smiled at the same time, always amazed and amused by Dane spontaneity. "I knew you'd like it, sweetheart," Edna said scooping up a big spoonful of mashed potatoes and placing them on a plate. "I cooked them especially for you."

"Thank you Grandma! You're the best!" he said excitedly, a huge smile now lighting up his entire face.

Edna smiled back at him as she was putting his plate in front of him after adding pork roast and green beans; then she served Pepper and herself. Pepper thanked her mother when she received her plate and looked instinctively at Tony who was still working on his tablet. Edna noticed her daughter's gaze and cleared her throat nosily.

"Tony?" Edna called out across the cabin to him. Pepper turned her head to her mother in surprise. Tony looked up at Edna in disbelief that she was actually talking to him instead of yelling at him, waiting for her to continue. "Do you want to join us for dinner?" she then asked politely.

Tony face suddenly lit up in a bright smile which was an exact copy of Dane's earlier one "Sure," he replied setting the tablet down and quickly getting to his feet. "I mean if there is enough food." he qualified cautiously.

"Don't worry, Mom always makes too much food," Pepper said as he walked towards them, actually welcoming him to the table.

Tony sat next to Edna with Pepper and Dane in front of him. "I hope you like mashed potatoes, green beans, and pork roast," Edna said giving him a plate.

Tony nodded "I do very much, I especially love mashed potatoes, Thank you, Mrs. Potts." He answered politely.

"Dane, please," Pepper said glancing over at Dane who was busy cramming his mouth full of mashed potatoes "Take your time, nobody's going to steal them from you."

Dane looked at his mom, his mouth still full of mashed potatoes. He swallowed noisily and grinned up at her, his lips still partially covered with potatoes "I was hungry."

Pepper picked up his napkin and dabbed at his mouth "That's not a reason to act like a pig."

"But Grandma's mashed potatoes are so good" he added smiling at his grandmother who laughed quietly at him.

"The kid has a point here, Pepper. These mashed potatoes are amazing." Tony added.

Pepper noticed that Edna actually blushed a little at Tony's compliment, and Dane grinned manically at Tony in thanks for his support.

Pepper looked at Tony and rolled her eyes "You're not helping me here, you know that."

Tony gave her his patented charming smile, "Sorry, Pepper."

Pepper shook her head a small smile breaking out on her face, knowing that she would never win any kind of argument with these two in the same room.

Suddenly, Dane broke into their conversation "Why do you call Mommy, 'Pepper'?" he asked Tony point blank.

Pepper and Tony looked at each other awkwardly. Dane turned first to look at his mom, then again at Tony, and finally back at his mom. A long minute of silence passed before Tony finally spoke "Oh, it's a long story buddy, believe me." Tony started smiling at Dane "But just to shorten the story, your mom tried to kill one of my security guards with her pepper spray."

Dane's jaw dropped at the news "Nooooo wwwayyyyyyyy?" he said in disbelief, looking at his mom for confirmation.

Pepper blushed "That's not exactly what happened and you know that Tony," she countered looking at him in a silent challenge.

Tony looked at her with a questioning gaze "It's not, huh? Then what is your version of the story exactly?"

Pepper started counting on her finger "First, I came to your office because YOU made a mistake in accounting,"

Tony cut her off quickly feigning innocence. "I never make mistakes…" he started but Pepper immediately pinned him with a challenging gaze.

"Really? You never make mistakes?!" she asked him, her eyes crinkling with a hidden smile.

Tony quickly looked down at the table not wanting to meet her eyes again. "I mean mistakes in math" he countered.

"Mmmhh" Pepper said still not convinced at all with his answer "You know exactly what I mean, Anthony Edward Stark. You made an error that could have cost millions of dollars for the company." She said turning to look at Dane who was now intensely following the verbal exchange between them.

Tony nodded at that "OK, OK. I admit that there may have been a small accounting error involved,"

Pepper turned her gaze again to Tony "And your big human bear of a bodyguard wouldn't let me in Tony's office so I could show him the error." she continued, sneaking a quick look at Dane's face.

"Yeah, and so you threatened him with your pepper spray! It happened just as I said!" Tony finished victoriously. Even, Edna cracked a smile at his childish tone.

Pepper blushed again, and explained shyly "It was the only way I could get into your office to talk to you, so there was a good reason for my threat."

"Maybe, but it didn't change the fact that you did what you did!" Tony declared happily, turning then to Dane "So, like I was telling you before your mom's interruption," He said winking at Pepper slyly "Your mom threatened my security guard with pepper spray in order to gain access to my office,"

"And what happened next?" Dane quickly asked, now fully engrossed in their story.

"We corrected the error, which by the way was not entirely my fault, and I hired her on the spot" He finished proudly, looking at Pepper with a huge smile on his face.

Pepper smiled back at him remembering that particular moment of her life with amusement, "And it was the best thing I ever did in my life," Tony added softly, now lost in Pepper blue's eyes.

"Then why are you not working together anymore?" Dane asked suddenly bringing both Pepper and Tony back to reality.

Pepper shook her head in order to pull herself back together and answered dryly "A growing divergence of opinion…" she said and then she turned to Dane and carded her fingers quickly through his dark curls "Finish your dinner, honey," she said smiling at him trying her best to change the subject now.

Tony felt his heart break in his chest at Pepper's words as well as her tone, and the feeling got worse when he saw her shift her gaze to Dane, effectively ignoring him. He sadly watched as Pepper and Dane spoke quietly to one another effectively shutting him out of their conversation. As he continued to watch them, he came to the realization that even though they were here, so physically close to him right now, they were emotionally so far away! He sighed and shifted his gaze to Edna's face. He could read a mix of compassion and fatalism in her blue eyes.

"Did you bring a dessert, grandma?" Dane asked loudly with his mouth full of mashed potatoes yet again.

Edna broke eye contact with Tony immediately and looked at Dane, "Sure, honey. How could I possibly deprive you of your favorite dessert in the whole world?" She answered, smiling mischievously at him.

"YES! YOU DID IT!" he almost yelled in happiness at her promise of brownies, his favorite dessert.

Pepper and Edna laughed in the same time as Tony began to feel more and more pushed aside in their conversation.

"Do you really think that Grandma would do something like that to you, sweetheart?" Pepper asked, her body still completely turned towards Dane.

"Because sometimes Grandma is sneaky," Dane replied giggling.

Edna opened her mouth in mock surprise "What?" She said clutching her hand to her chest in a dramatic gesture. "Me? sneaky?"

Dane and Pepper laughed together and it was this moment that Tony chose to stand up with his plate and walk back to his seat near the front of the jet. Dane and Edna were still arguing back and forth on the merits of a sneaky grandma depriving a 4 year old boy of his favorite dessert for no reason at all. Pepper noticed out of the corner of her eye that Tony had gotten up to move away from them.

Her heart suddenly clinched in her chest as he walked dejectedly away from them, but her mind told her that he was right in leaving them! That Tony didn't deserve to be so easily forgiven for what he had done to her five years ago. Then she asked herself if she could ever really forgive him, but still could not find the answer to that question in her heart. She could now see Tony's reflection in the window behind him, and he looked absolutely miserable as he continued to eat, chewing slowly, and gazing sadly at the clouds through the window. Half of her wanted to go to sit next to him and hug him, and her other half was thinking that he deserved to be miserable. So she did the only thing that seemed reasonable to her: she chose to stay in her chair and tried to catch up once again to the conversation that her mom and her son were having as she once again joined her family… Her real one…