Absence

Chapter One

"Gone"

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As always, she was up at five, going about her usual morning routine, even though she had a rare chance to sleep in. Mr. Stark would be gone for another two days, and her workload would actually be reasonable if she didn't have to bring him coffee, take out his latest Trash, buy her own damn birthday present, or do whatever other tasks she was constantly forced to deal with, even though she was far too over-qualified to do them. She could be a normal assistant today, and that meant she didn't have to start work until at least nine. But she never seriously considered that whenever he went away. She liked her routine - it was probably the only thing that had allowed her to survive four years of working for Tony Stark.

Her cell rang as she sat at her vanity, putting on her eyeshadow. She quickly finished the last corner of her eye before looking down to Rhodes' name on the screen. Only one reason he would be calling. "Colonel Rhodes," she began when she answered. "Please do me a favor and tell Mr. Stark that if he has a problem he needs to be a big boy and call me him -"

"Pepper…"

Something in his tone made her freeze - she couldn't even say why, it was just instinctual.

"Pepper, something happened," he said quietly, somberly.

He was afraid, and upset - two emotions she had never imagined he was capable of. "Wh… what?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"I thought I should call you first, you're pretty much the closest thing Tony has to a family -"

"For God's sake, Rhodes," she begged frantically, "what happened?"

She heard him swallow a lump out of his throat. "They were taking him to a different base after the missile demonstration, and… the caravan got attacked, and -"

"Is he alive?"

Rhodes signed. "We think so. They killed everyone, but we didn't find any sign of Tony. We think they captured him. Maybe ransom, maybe they want him to build weapons… we don't know. We've got people searching for him, but there's really no telling -"

Pepper's hand dropped slowly down to her vanity, and her finger pressed the 'end call' button halfway through Rhodes' sentence. She stared at her reflection, her mind blank - or maybe it was really just filled with far too many emotions, all coming and going too fast for her to feel them, like white noise.

This couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening.

Not happening, he's fine, I'll go to work and see him and he'll want coffee and he'll make some sarcastic comment about something and I check his email and -

Somehow, her mind seemed to have convinced itself that her mantra was true, for a while at least, because the next thing she knew, she was unlocking the door to his mansion, and walking inside. She silently dropped her purse to the floor of the entryway, and began wandering aimlessly through every room of the house, knowing deep down that she was looking for him. She made her way through the living room and kitchen, his office, her office, two guest rooms and his bedroom, and finally down into his workshop, and he was nowhere to be found. She sat down at his work table, and slowly picked up some little gadget he was - had been - working on. She held it in her lap, turning it over in her fingers. She was still numb - definitely numb this time - just staring at the object. And in the next moment, without warning, the truth of the situation slammed into her with such force that she felt like it was going to crush her. She began crying uncontrollably, gasping for air as tears streamed down her cheeks and into her lap.

Some time later - she really had no idea how long - Jarvis interrupted her, telling her that Mr. Stark's kidnapping had been reported to the press, and that perhaps she should calm down, since there would no doubt be a horde of reporters calling for a statement any moment now.

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Fucking Funvee.

He wasn't sure where the thought had come from, but it was the first thing that went through his mind when he became conscious.

The second was the sensations of pain as he became fully awake again. He had a horrible migraine and every muscle hurt, but the worst was the searing pain in his chest, like he had been stabbed with a jagged knife, a dozen times in the same area. But he forgot the pain instantly, when a sac was yanked off of his head to reveal a bright light shining on him, a camera, and men surrounding him with guns. One of them was reading something he couldn't understand, shouting at the camera. The man spoke Tony's name.

I'm gonna die. He panicked as his most recent memories came rushing back. They're gonna kill me!

His somewhat blurred vision fixated on the lens of the camera, and the tiny red light that said it was recording. The whole world would see this video, his death. Government, military, people at Stark Industries, Pepper - Pepper… He would never see Pepper again, and the last thing she would see of him would be his death.

His thoughts focused around Pepper as the man beside him continued his tirade, alternating between memories and images of her and the harsh reality that their last conversation was about him forgetting her birthday.

The man finished his speech, and Tony was cut off from any further thoughts or fear with the barrel of a gun slamming into the side of his head.

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Several more chapters will follow. I hope you're enjoying so far, and if you are, please review! :)