The Runaway Distance: Life of a Little Stark

27) Photos, Letters, & Keys

The dawn light crept through the blinds.

It created almost mystical shadows and shades over the objects in the room. It was finally quiet, the only disturbance being the gentle whistle of a breeze as it filtered through the open window.

Pepper and Tony were asleep, ignorant to the deathly silence of the room. But while Tony's dreams were haunted by your memory, Pepper's sleep was just filled with darkness. She couldn't dream, not with everything that had happened.

In fact, she was relieved to be woken by her phone. Many early hours at the office meant the slightest sound made her alert again.

She checked the room subconsciously before reaching over Tony's still sleeping form to see who it was. She was surprised to find it was only 6am.

The number that called wasn't one she recognized, however. Curiously, she accepted.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Potts?" The voice on the other end responded.

"Yes."

"Hi. I'm sorry to call like this, but I heard about (Y/n)'s death and I was hoping we could talk."

Pepper sighed. "Look, I'm afraid we're not making any comments during this time. And if you're calling to sue, you'll need to take it to the PR department."

"I'm not a reporter, Ms. Potts, and I'm not suing."

"Then who are you? How did you get this number?"

"My name is Matt Murdock. I'm a lawyer. (Y/n) Stark's, to be exact."

Pepper was momentarily silenced by surprise as she automatically glanced at Tony. He was still sleeping.

"Ms. Potts?" Matt asked.

"Y-Yes. Sorry. Give me a moment."

She slowly got to her feet and left the room, entering the hallway where she began to pace.

"You knew (Y/n)?" She managed to ask.

"She came to me a year ago." Matt explained. "She told me everything in the hopes that we could work together to plan for the worst case scenario."

"What do you mean?"

"She had people after her and she knew there was a chance she might not be able to keep on running. If things did go bad, she requested that I contact Director Nick Fury of SHIELD to get in touch with either her father or you."

Pepper stopped pacing and settled by a window that overlooked some of the New York buildings.

"Oh, my God." She struggled to form the right words as many different thoughts ran inside her head. "She really planned for all this?"

"I'm afraid so. (Y/n) may have always prepared for the worst, but she was good, too. She was one of the smartest people I had the pleasure of meeting. I'm very sorry for your loss. And for calling so early."

"No, it's... It's okay. Thank you." She tried her best to smile. "I've always been a morning person."

She heard a light chuckle over the phone. "We have that in common. I hope it's not too early for you to consider meeting with my partner and I about (Y/n)'s will? Perhaps during or after the funeral?"

She was still trying to digest the fact that you had an actual will already completed and took a few seconds to reply.

"Of course." She decided. "I hope to see you next week."