Pepper visits Rhodey the next morning, sticking her hand holding a paper bag in before entering.

"I come bearing food."

Rhodey grins, settling his head back on the pillow." Thank god, if I had to eat another bowl of soup, I swear I was gonna clock someone, Pepper."

Pepper gives a fond chuckle, handing him the bag. She pulls off her black leather jacket and sets it on the chair neatly as Rhodey digs through the bag, finally digging out a chocolate muffin. He peels the wrapper and takes a humongous bite.

Pepper watches the whole ordeal with disdain. "Is this how all military men keep their health up?" She jests.

Rhodey huffs, mouth full. He's unable to speak for a full minute. Pepper uses that time to observe him. His wound is healing well, and the bruise around his eye is almost faded. The doctor says his knee is blown but with a shunt they can stabilise it. Not that there would be need, but Rhodey still had 10% of his nerve endings in his legs, and Pepper had insisted that he do the surgery, recovery would be painless anyway. Tony would snark that he's got no use for them other than being shapely. Rhodey would chuckle, and do it. Say what you will about Tony, but Rhodes valued Tony's opinion more than anyone else's, atleast for the past 10 years.

"Uh, it's carbs, Pepper, they're good for you."

She smirks, weakly though, her chest pangs. "You sound like Tony."

Rhodey only smiles a little, and goes back to devouring the muffin. Pepper shakes off the eerie feeling again, that feeling that crept up every time her brain retained she had a superhero in space. It doesn't go away though, and for the fifth time in three days, she has to suppress the urge to hurl. Unfortunately, that plan falls flat in two seconds, and she excuses herself to the bathroom again, wobbling. Rhodey's concerned eyes follow her. Her stomach empties its contents just as she sticks her head over the bowl. Tears fl`icker at the edge of her eyes, contravening her. She hasn't been able to keep so much as a latte down for the past day, the bouts of puking worsening. She evaluates her meal plan over the past few days, in which resided, a box of altoids, coffee and sandwich devoid of any nutrition. One might dub it the 'Tony Diet'. Still, he never got sick like this, but Pepper's willing to bet his stomach can handle more roughhousing than hers, if the past decade has been any preamble.

She comes out, feeling relieved, and yet confused. Rhodey beats her confusion to the punch though.

"What the hell?" He says, sitting up."You puked, again?"

Pepper gives a little groan as she sinks back into the armchair."I don't know what it is."

Maybe she does though, but ignorance is bliss, or whatever. She's been calculating, and she's worried. Pepper leans back and looks skyward, her eyelids sliding shut against her burning eyes. Her impromptu nap had led to an astir night. Nothing to do with her sleeping arrangements of course. SHIELD had lavish quarters, well furnished. But it was lonely, and the atmosphere felt withdrawn and cold. She'd spent the days she was here, upright and working, steadfastly rushing through the amassment of legal work. None whatsoever getting much needed rest. In fact, a nap sounded pretty damn good about-

"Pepper!"

"Huh?" She snorted awake. That was an embarrassing sound, very disgraceful. What was becoming of her? She feels warm and tired and, scrutinised under Rhodey's squint. It radiates a different kind of concern, one that's a little blind sided. Tony's is more of a knowing concern, for all his lack of social cues.

"When was the last time you ate? Or slept?" He inquires, and Pepper feels even more mortified now. She's always been a woman of impeccable self care, responsible. And now, here she was worrying herself sick over nothing. Tony wasn't coming home. But he wasn't dead. This was the conclusion she had decided to come to. Tony was stuck in a limbo. And so was her mind. She was in an unalterable state of grief, but she wouldn't mourn. She just would not. It was preposterous. She couldn't bring herself to do so. Every time Pepper came close to feeling the true weight of his disappearance, she would subconsciously file through all his past MIAs. Everything turned out fine before, right? Fact. And history tends to repeat itself. Fact. She fiddles idly with the ring on her finger, chewing her bottom lip.

"I'm late." Pepper blurts, pulling the ring off completely. So much for ignorance.

Rhodes rolls his eyes. "To what? Pepper, I swear you could be a minute late anywhere and you'd have an aneurysm-"

"No, James," Pepper says, slowly, pitching her voice low," I'm late."

He blinks, a look of panic washing over his face, when it settles, his eyes wide. He opens his mouth when Pepper hears abrupt steps.

Natasha enters, still fully suited up. Her uniform is ripped near the torso and thigh, but all her wounds, near her lip and cheek, are just pink scars. And she's platinum blonde. Did the woman ever look the same for more than a month? She's engulfed with nausea for just a second again when she glances at the depth of the gash on her inner thigh. This nausea definitely needs to be addressed. Rhodey notices her turn pale again, and his eyes soften. He reaches out and squeezes her shoulder. Pepper feels a little comforted. She makes the mental decision to go to the doctor on the 7th floor just as soon as she gets Rhodes sorted out for the evening with his new dose of medications. Natasha looks cold and subdued, her eyes hard. There's an empty look to them, and Pepper's heart thuds a little, she sees that look on Tony. He gets it whenever he talks about his parents, or when he recalls the time he let her fall into fire. She wants to comfort the double agent who has become a reluctant friend to her; Potts clan has always been the nurturing type, but she just can't envision Natasha responding to a tight hug. She doesn't suppose she could resort to the same tactics she uses with Tony. Natasha probably believes hugs are a waste of human contact.

"I've been up for two days. I can't- I couldn't, get in touch with anyone.'' Natasha speaks then, to no one in particular. She sounds even more monotone than usual. "Clint was off the grid, so to speak. I tried everything from morse code to sending a jet to his farmhouse."

She's still staring out the window, not a muscle moving or twitching.

"Nat." Pepper calls softly, urging Natasha to finally look at her. Natasha finally glances up, her mouth twisted in a way Pepper has come to learn means a delivery of some emotional blow. She blinks, eyes slightly red, but otherwise completely composed. Rhodey, who had been silent until now, exhales loudly.

"What happened, Romanoff?" He asks, in a rather resigned tone.

As Pepper sits at the edge of the chair, she notices the difference in their names for Natasha. Both signify a closeness to the agent, but being comrades in battle bring a different sense of familiarity than just gal pals does. Not that the woman has done anything remotely close to friendly with her, unlike Maria, she and Natasha were just used to each other. They were comfortable, and she thinks Natasha maybe trusts her a little now. Enough to be the tiniest bit honest with herself around her.

"There was dust."

Pepper sobs. Clint is flying in soon, to research, to fight. For his wife and child. Pepper sobs guiltily. She cries for Tony, for Clint, for Natasha, for herself. She feels wrung by guilt; it wasn't her loss to cry for. She barely registers being engulfed by someone's arms, that may or may not be small and petite, yet strong, and she cries harder. Natasha was closer to the Bartons than she'd been to her own family.

"I just-" Pepper tries to get out, waving her hands about in a vague gesture.

Natasha looks her in the eye, unblinkingly and clutches her shoulders so hard it hurts a little.

"I get it, Pepper. You don't have to feel guilty." She glances at Rhodey momentarily, a small, sad smirk coming to grace her hauntingly beautiful features, then looks back at her. Pepper had always secretly envied her looks. She's proud of her own pixie like features, but sometimes, in petty small moments, she wishes she had Natasha's bold lips, high cheekbones, and that dangerous smoulder.

"Sometimes we can't cry for the things we want to." She recites, as if it was a quote told to her, very long ago. She raises herself to full height and walks over to Rhodey's bedside, her hand slowly tracing over his knuckles. The agent bends down and whispers something in Rhodey's ear that makes his lips twitch. She turns around then, passing Pepper's confused stare breezily. The colonel pinkens under Pepper's scrutiny.

"You, and Natasha?"

"Hey, lets talk about the real elephant in the room. The baby elephant." Rhodey glares at her. Pepper flushes.

"I didn't leave it out of anything. I've just had, suspicions; is all." She says, trailing off uncomfortably, shrugging. The suspicions have manifested into much more with all the puking and the not getting her period and all that. There are 3 home pregnancy tests sitting in her room here, all unopened. They sat there, silently judging her for an hour, while her fingers hovered over the plastic coating of it. Finally, she'd hopped of the bed and on her way to get herself a scone. In line, she'd admonished herself for not thinking of James. Guilt ridden, the bag was then filled with goodies like chocolate muffins, a jam tart, and a chicken caesar roll.

"You've been overworking yourself, pushing your body and doing all this shit while you might be pregnant?" Rhodey barks, and Pepper flinches. Sometimes she forgets how protective he can get of her. They've been friends for almost 10 years now, and she still has a tendency to stop putting herself first when it comes to Tony. So while she takes care of Tony, Rhodey takes care of her. Its a funny little eco system they have. She thinks about how couples start to act and look alike after a while together.

"I dont want a goatee." She exclaims, out loud. Rhodey huffs.

"What the hell?"

Crap.

"James, I don't know what to do." She groans, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms, her posture hunched over. She straightens up and begins pacing around the room. There's silence for almost a full minute, the only sound the clicking of her boots across the tile, reminiscent of a ticking clock.

"I'm coming with you to see Dr Patel." Rhodey finally speaks up, his voice strict. He begins to push himself up, his hands shaking slightly as he puts pressure on them. Pepper rushes to his side to push him back down gently. He gives way easily.

"I have a pregnancy test with me." She says, her hand still braced against his back. She'd go to the doctor later.

Rhodey clucks his tongue, pushing enough energy to shove Pepper's hands off to plop himself into the nearest wheelchair.

"No way," He sounds a little winded, but Pepper keeps her mouth shut. "You need a full workup done. You haven't eaten well, and you're under a lot of stress. You should make sure everything's okay."

Pepper heaves a sigh. She could waste another two hours arguing, but what would the point anyway?

"Lets go." She says, in a resigned tone, wheeling Rhodey towards the elevator.

"So," Pepper begins, tapping her nail against the metal of the handle right near his ear. Rhodey flicks her finger.

"It's just a friends with benefits situation." He says, but his Adam's apple is bobbing. It's a classic tell.

"What about Bruce?" She has to ask. The scientist has been gone for quite a while, but the two had quite the thing going on before he went MIA. Now that Bruce was back, Pepper's worried their little 'friends with benefits' thing is going to end.

"I don't know." He shrugs, as they get onto the 7th floor. "If she wants to run back to him now, its none of my business."

"James."

"Don't worry about me Pep. I'm not about to get my heart broken. I knew what this was going in."

She's not so sure though. She saw the way Rhodes melted against Natasha's touch. He and Tony have the same 'never leave me' look. But it's not her place to interfere in matters of the heart. She learned her lesson when some dared to tell her 9 years ago that she was about to get her heart broken by Tony Stark. And here she was, getting her heart broken every second Tony doesn't come back. No one hates irony more than her.

They reach Dr Patels office, and Pepper stops.

"What's wrong?" Rhodey asks.

She takes a deep breath, clenching her fists. " Nothing. Lets go in."

Maybe everything would be fine.