For My Love (Percy Jackson/Avengers Crossover)

CHAPTER 4: TONY

A knock on my door startled me out of my hungover state, the morning light was seeping through the massive glass windows and I groaned. Why hadn't I installed some curtains or something to block the light? My head spun as I tried to push myself off my desk into a sitting position but I was still dizzy and my elbow buckled under my weight. God, desks are not the most comfortable to fall asleep on, that's for sure.

Pepper, having gotten tired of waiting outside for an answer, rushed in before stopping at the pitiful sight I made.

"Oh Tony," she sighed, taking in the empty bottles beside me and the general smell of scotch emanating from the room. "How much did you have? That's a whole bottle that you've drained as well as the half of a 750ml decanter. For god's sake, Tony, you're going to kill yourself with this drinking one day."

"Well, I've already lived far longer than I expected with this thing in my chest," I twisted in my chair, tapping half-heartedly on the blue light glowing beneath my shirt. "Ugh, I need aspirin. And some water."

Pepper sighed and picked up the decanter, placing it on the side next to the crystal tumble, before sitting down in the chair opposite me. I grabbed the bottle of water and pack of aspirin from inside my desk which I kept in there due to this being a common occurrence. Yeah, I knew my habits weren't healthy but it hadn't killed me yet and it sure was the easiest way to deal with things.

"Tony, if you're going to be looking after a teenager and a toddler, you can't do this anymore." Pepper reasoned, an edge of worry tinging her voice. "Although with the records S.H.I.E.L.D. has on your nephew, I wouldn't blame you for not taking them in."

Nephew. That was weird to hear, considering I didn't even know Sally had had kids until yesterday. It made me feel almost responsible for them; a close-knit family wasn't something I'd ever had. Sally was the only one who'd ever been there for me. So, I had a duty to Sally to take them in and care for them as if they were my own. But what if I was like Howard? It was inevitable that I'd turn out to be like him; so many people had said that I was a 'chip off the old block'. It was clearly meant to be a compliment and Howard used it well. He used to quote to the papers, "the apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree." That was when he maybe held some semblance of pride for me for following in his footsteps. He didn't express it much though.

Mustering a smile, I sat up and turned to Pepper. "I have 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' living in my tower and you know how much of a mess they make. I'm sure we'll be fine with Perseus; everyone goes through a rebellious phase. You just need to look at the papers from my time at MIT. I'm just going to wing it."

"Don't give me that fake bullshit. Tony, you know it's alright to have no clue what you're doing but I am always here to help you if you have any questions. But I will need you to tell me when you have a problem so I can help you with it. Let's not rehash the whole palladium situation." Pepper looked me directly in the eye, seemingly searching for an answer to an unasked question. "Are you sure you want or are able to take the kids in? No one will judge if you turn them away."

My head was pounding too much for my thoughts to be completely coherent but I knew for sure that I needed to take them in, if not for me, for Sally. I nodded weakly.

"Pep, I have no fucking clue on how to look after kids. Elizabeth isn't even 1 yet, do they even move at that age? Can she eat normal food or does she still need milk? Does she even have teeth? I don't know how a baby works. It would be so much easier if people were just like a computer so that I could take them apart or reprogram when something goes wrong." I pressed my forehead against my palms as I rested my elbow on the tables.

"Tony..." Pepper appeared lost for words. "Well, I promise you that it is not as difficult as you think. When my niece was born, it was terrifying, looking at something so young and small that relies on you for their every need. But you aren't alone in this. Happy and I will be there to help whenever you need and Perseus has been looking after her and knows what to do. The only thing to watch out for is that once they start crawling, they're off and you have to always keep an eye on them."

"That's the problem. I can't always keep an eye on her, I just don't have the time. I'm always late to board meetings as it is, but that's just due to my style... Surely, you don't want me to have yet another excuse to cancel a day of meetings at the last minute"

Pepper sighed. "As I said, you'll have Perseus to help you and whenever I'm free, I'll help you out. I think it's preferable that I take over babysitting duties once in a while to ensure that the owner of Stark Industries actually turns up to work once in a while. Besides, I've always liked kids."

I looked up at her blue eyes and thanked whatever god was up there that I had her in my life. She had always been there for me, even if I never realised that I needed her.

"God, Pepper, I'm so lucky to have you."

"And I love you too Tony but you're picking up the kids tomorrow so sober up and make this place as welcoming as possible."