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English
Series:
Part 1 of The Ironfather
Collections:
Irondad Creators Awards 2022, Peter Parker's Bio Parents
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Published:
2020-10-07
Completed:
2022-09-12
Words:
79,691
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25/25
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The Secrets We Keep

Summary:

“Who are all these people?” Pepper looked at the crowd forming around them.

Tony flashed his million-dollar smile that always made Pepper melt. “Don’t worry about them Pep, it’s just business.”

So, Pepper let it go. She shouldn’t have.

 

Pepper's life was perfect. Tony was the perfect husband, gentleman and he made her feel like the luckiest woman alive. It was everything she dreamed of.

But she soon finds out Tony's biggest secret. So she hides her biggest secret by running away. Problem is, Tony is not about to let her go.

Notes:

Hiiiiiiiiiiii

I'm a mess and this is just for shits and giggles so let me know your thoughts and if I should continue this

Chapter 1: Two Truths and A Lie

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Hindsight 20/20, Pepper wasn’t sure why she didn’t see the warning signs. When she walked into her first day of work as Tony Stark’s assistant, she had heard the rumors. That he was impossible to deal with. Erratic. Always trying to get himself killed. Watch out, he's dangerous. He gets into a ton of dangerous situations. But Stark Industries had always been a big name in weapons, which then turned into a big tech company. Pepper wanted to work her way up to the top; she dreamed of running a company of her own one day. And working for Stark Industries was a leg up from every other company.

What she didn’t plan for, was to completely fall in love with her boss. She had heard he was a playboy, but under that facade, he was a loving and protective man. After working for him for years, she had gotten to know what she thought was the true side of him. After closed-door meetings that he would have with various men, (she was never told who they were or why they were there) he would always walk over to her with a big smile. When he danced with her, it felt so right. Like sunshine and daisies. And when he finally proposed to her, with the grand gesture of fireworks and an audience, she of course said yes.

When she was younger, she used to play this game with other girls at sleepover parties. Two truths and a lie. They would share 2 true things and 1 lie, and they had to guess which was the lie. So Pepper had started playing this game with herself even as an adult.

The night before her wedding to Tony Stark, she thought of her two truths and a lie:
1. She loved Tony Stark with all of her heart
2. She was going to marry Tony Stark
3. She was going to leave Tony Stark

She thought she would never ever want to leave Tony Stark. He was the perfect man, the perfect future husband.

At their wedding, there were many people who came up to them to congratulate them. To welcome her to ‘the famiglia’. These big, Italian men who Pepper had never seen before, nor did she remember inviting, were all lining up to talk to them. At one point, Pepper leaned over to Tony and whispered:

“Who are all these people?” Pepper looked at the crowd forming around them.

Tony flashed his million-dollar smile that always made Pepper melt. “Don’t worry about them Pep, it’s just business.”

So, Pepper let it go. She shouldn’t have.

--

Three months after they returned from their romantic honeymoon in Venice, Pepper laid curled up next to Tony. She could feel his chest rise and fall with each breath he took. It was early morning, and the sun was just starting to peek through their shades in the Penthouse. It was mornings like these that she loved spending with her husband. Just the two of them, no work, just their naked bodies wrapped up together.

Unfortunately, Pepper did not feel great that morning. For the last two weeks, she had been getting nauseous every morning when she woke up. Sometimes, she could keep it in. Other times, she had to overwhelmingly sprint to the bathroom and puke her brains out. Luckily, Tony was a heavy sleeper. She didn’t know why she felt so sick, but the last thing she wanted was for her husband to worry. He was always protective of her at all times, but when she was sick, he would hover. Baby her. And while she loved him, when she was sick, she always wanted to be alone. She didn’t need him to baby her. He would freak if he found out she was puking.

So, she quietly snaked out from Tony’s hold and made it just in time to puke into the toilet. As she puked for what felt like the 1000th time that morning, she thought about how this wasn’t normal. She made a mental note to make a doctor’s appointment for today.

After she flushed the toilet, she got ready for the day by brushing her teeth, taking a shower, and combing her hair. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw Tony was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Morning Mr. Stark.”

“Morning Mrs. Stark.” Tony smiled at his wife. He got out of bed and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her. He swayed her a bit as if they were dancing.

“Remember our first dance?” Tony asked, looking into Pepper's soft eyes.

“Oh, you mean the one where you abandoned me on the rooftop?” Pepper’s voice had no real bite behind it.

“Yup,” Tony sighed contently.

“Sir,” Friday spoke. “You have men waiting to meet with you.” Pepper and Tony both sighed. It seemed like lately, Tony was always getting called into meetings early in the morning.

“We should both go get dressed,” Pepper noted.

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to attend this meeting,” Tony commented, sifting through his closet for his suit.

“And why are they scheduling meetings with you so early? And who are they?” Pepper questioned, genuinely curious.

“Not important, they – “ Pepper cut her husband off.

“They must be, if they are trying to meet with you now and you’re actually going,” Pepper noted.

“Well, someone’s gotta run the family business,” Tony said seriously. “And besides, one day, our son will run the business. Then we won’t even have to deal with the interruption” Tony wagged his eyebrows.

“How do you know we will have a son?” Pepper folded her arms. She wanted a little girl. But she guessed a little boy would be cute too.

“I need a son to take over,” Tony responded as if it was the most logical thing in the world. His business partners were asking when he would have his son. Having his son would be critical for his business.

“Why can’t a girl take over!” Pepper responded angrily. If they had a daughter, she would never want her to be cut out of Stark Industries.

“There’s just a lot more to it. Honey, please don’t worry about this, okay?” Tony begged, wanting Pepper to let this go.

“Fine, but you promise we will have dinner tonight?” Pepper wanted just a night to themselves, without any interruptions from work.

“I should promise you and I will” Tony grinned, and leaned in to kiss his wife. Tony’s kisses always made Pepper melt. She could forget about the entire world when she was in her husband’s arms.

--

After Tony dressed and went to his meeting, Pepper got ready for her day. Since she was now helping run SI, she too needed to be ready for her meetings. As she checked her schedule for the day, she realized she had a two-hour window for a doctor’s appointment. She quickly called up her doctor and was grateful that he could squeeze her in on such short notice.

Leading up to her appointment was uneventful. She met with product development about the new Stark Phone, and with marketing to discuss how they would advertise the new phone. As she was reviewing the final advertisement plans, Happy knocked on her door.

“Ready to go Mrs. Boss?” Since her marriage to Tony, Happy started calling her ‘Mrs. Boss’ since she was basically doing Tony's job. She didn’t fully know where Tony would run off to during the day sometimes, but she could handle all things business. This was her dream after all.

“Yes, thank you Happy.”

As they approached the car, Happy broke the silence;

“So why are we going to your doctors? You sick or something?” Happy nervously asked.

“No just a regular check-up,” Pepper lied. The last thing she wanted was for Happy to tattle to Tony before she knew what was going on. She was sure it was nothing and did not want her husband to worry.

They drove to the doctor’s office in silence. Pepper looked out at all the buildings as they passed. She used to drive or walk herself, but when she started dating Tony, Tony insisted that Happy drove her everywhere. He had said it was what he paid Happy for, and he joked that Happy needed to earn his salary.

But Pepper remembered the one time she had tried walking out of the building to grab a coffee, Friday locked the doors, preventing her from leaving. She and Tony got into a big fight about it.

He said he was just trying to protect her.

She yelled at him for being ridiculous.

He told her how much she loved him.

She said he had to trust her.

He said that he did, but it was the world he didn’t trust.

She told him there was nothing to worry about, that the coffee shop was in a safe area nearby.

He said that he had to protect the one thing he loved the most.

Pepper lost that argument, and had never driven or walked alone again. She shook the memory out of her head as they came to a stop in front of the doctor’s office.

“Want me to come inside?” Happy asked.

“No, just wait here,” Pepper responded as she stepped out of the car.

The doctor did his usual checks. Took her blood pressure. Checked her heart. Checked her ears and eyes. Pepper was only half paying attention when she realized the doctor was talking to her.

“Sorry what?” Pepper asked.

“You came in for nausea correct?” He asked patiently.

“Yes, that’s correct.” She answered.

“Can you describe it for me? How long has it been going on?” He asked.

“Well, let’s see. For the past two weeks. I usually wake up feeling nauseous. Sometimes I get sick, sometimes I don’t. Usually, it’s in the morning, but sometimes I feel nauseous after lunch.”

“And when was your last period?” He asked.

Oh my god. Pepper’s eyes widened. She had been so busy the past few weeks with work that she didn’t even realize her period was late. Like 3 or 4 weeks late.

“Ummm, I think it’s late,” Pepper responded quietly.

“Let’s get you a pregnancy test, then we will go from there.”

Pepper peed on the stick in the bathroom then waited there. It was the longest two minutes of her life. How could she have forgotten that she didn’t get her period? Was she even ready to have a kid? Was Tony ready? Sure, they wanted kids, but maybe in a few years. She still wanted to be able to go out at night with Tony and go to dinner, rather than worry about diapers and breastfeeding.

Her alarm went off. She looked down at the stick.

Pregnant.

‘Oh my god’ Pepper thought, ‘I’m pregnant. What will Tony say? Will he be happy? We literally just talked about having a child this morning.’

Her doctor gave her a bunch of information and offered to schedule an appointment for her with an OBGYN. She declined, saying she needed to discuss it with her husband. She needed to make sure he was free for the first appointment.

As she walked back out to the car, she could see Happy was on the phone.

“I’ll call you back.” He quickly hung up and turned to her. “Done already?”

“Yea, let’s go home” She smiled. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to go surprise Tony with the announcement. She knew deep down, even though it was sooner than she expected, she was excited to start a family with her husband. They would be the perfect little family.

She dreamed about it on the car ride home. How she would soon be rocking her baby to sleep at night. How her husband would tell their baby stories, and how he would absolutely spoil their child. She smiled at the thought.

When they got inside the tower, Pepper and Happy walked in together without saying anything.
“Friday,” Pepper questioned, “Where is my husband right now?”

“Oh that’s not such a good idea-“ Happy was interrupted by Friday.

“He is in conference room 38D.” Friday said emotionless.

“Thanks, Fri, take me there.” Pepper stepped into the elevator, and Happy quickly jumped in after her.

“Hey I think he’s in a meeting right now, we should not go-“ Happy was cut off yet again.

“I work for this company too you know.”

“I just don’t think Boss wants you to-“ Again, Happy was cut off.

“I’m the boss too Happy.” Pepper retorted and stepped out onto the floor. She hadn’t been up here before, usually Tony had meetings here with those men she didn't know.

She swung the door open and was not prepared for what she saw.

In the room was her husband with their friend Rhodey. There were also three big men she recognized from the wedding standing next to them. But what caught her attention were the two other men. They were tied up, with their arms and legs tied in the air. They were both covered in blood, and she could tell they were still bleeding out like crazy. They had bullet wounds that were oozing blood from their legs and from their lower chest. She noticed one of the men was not attached to his arm anymore, and a bloody saw was lying on the ground not too far from her husband. The other man was missing an eye, and she spotted the missing eye lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Her husband was holding a gun, as was Rhodes. The three big men were holding bloody knives. Tony’s eyes were black, filled with rage and anger that Pepper had never seen before.

Pepper stood there with her mouth agape. What was happening?

“Finish this,” Tony barked to Rhodey. Why the hell was Pepper in here?

Tony walked over to his wife and pulled her out of the conference room to the elevator.

“You aren’t supposed to see that.”

“What the HELL were you doing?!” Pepper cried out. “Why were those men tied up and why were you hurting them?”

“They are bad men Pepper. They wanted to lock me up, take me away from you.” Tony growled.

“Boss I tried to stop her from- “Happy was cut off once again.

“We will talk later.” Tony spat out. He was pissed that Happy let his wife just walk in on this, Happy knew better than to let Pepper onto this floor. Pepper stifled a sob.

“Please don’t hurt Happy,” Pepper begged. Tony’s eyes softened. He didn’t want to scare his wife. He took her hand and led her out of the elevator and to the couch, leaving Happy behind in the elevator.

“I would never,” Tony promised. Tony noticed how Pepper was shaking. “Hey, sweetheart it’s alright.”

“How is it alright? You were torturing two men!” Pepper sobbed.

“It’s part of the job,” Tony said emotionless.

“What? Stark industries is not a company that murders people! We don’t make weapons anymore!”

“But the Stark family business does,” Tony stated matter of fact.

“What?” Pepper was shocked. What was he talking about?

“I kept it hidden from you long enough. I guess now you know enough, I might as well tell you the rest. I run the Stark mob.” Tony explained.

“The mob?” Pepper asked in disbelief.

“Yes Pepper,” Tony said, “I’m the Boss. Like mob boss kind of boss. Stark Industries is a front for the Stark mob family, most people know that, I’m surprised you didn’t realize sooner. But that’s one of the things I love about you.” Tony smiled at her and reached out to touch her face. But she pulled back.

“So you kill people?”

“We have to, that’s part of it.”

“And you don’t see what’s wrong with that?” Pepper worried she already knew the answer.

“No, we do what we have to so that we can grow, build our empire you see.”

“But this is insane, Tony how could you keep this from me?”

“Would you have married me if you knew?”

“Probably not,” Pepper muttered honestly.

“See? Exactly why I didn’t. I wanted you so bad, and I would have done anything to get you. And I still would do anything for you. I love you Pepper; I only do this to protect us.”

“Protect us? Why not just quit, leave this insanity?”

“I could never,” Tony scoffed. “My father built this empire, and I have to continue on the legacy. That’s what I was born to do as a Stark. I had to live on the legacy.”

Pepper shuttered at that. But then she thought about their baby. The one she just found out about. The one she was about to tell Tony about until she found out his secret. How could she bring a child into this world? She couldn’t picture raising her son or daughter in this fucked up world. How could she be okay with having a child born for the sole purpose to kill for their father’s company?

“But you could leave, can’t you?” Pepper asked, with what little hope she had left.

“That’s not how it works.” Tony shook his head. He would never want to leave the mob. He made so much money from his illegal business, way more than Stark Industries brought in. And, he felt so powerful when he killed. When he tortured an enemy, he felt on top of the world.

“Listen, I know this is a lot to take in, but it feels good to get this off my chest,” Tony paused. “I hate to run out, I know we have a lot to talk about, but I need to get back downstairs.” With that, he leaned over to kiss her cheek, then got up and left.

Pepper took a shaking breath. In all honesty, she was terrified. She was pregnant with her husband’s baby, who turned out to be a murderer. How did she not see the warning signs? She should have known, should have done her research. But it was too late, she was going to have a baby with this man, and her baby would become a killer.

Unless she left. But she could never escape. He would never let her leave, and Friday would stop her anyways. But she had to leave. She didn’t want her baby growing up in this. Now that she knew the truth, she didn’t even think she could stay. She loved Tony, she really did, but how could she live here, knowing what goes on downstairs. Those bloody bodies would haunt her for the rest of her life. She was not going to subject her child to that.

--
Pepper had to give herself credit, she had played the role of happy wife for the past three weeks after finding out she was pregnant with her mob boss husband’s child. She happily cuddled up to her husband, cooked dinner with him, watched movies, and kissed him back. While she still loved him, she was now terrified of him. She thought of the game she used to play and played another round.
1. I’m pregnant
2. My husband is in the mafia, yet I still love him
3. I’m staying with him

Since the day she found out the truth, Pepper started planning her escape. Pepper had planned it all out. She discretely hired someone to make her the fake documents that would help her disappear. “Mary Fitzpatrick” was her new name on her new birth certificate, that she kept tucked away in the bottom of her purse. After getting all the needed documents to live her new fake life, all she needed was an escape. And she found one.

She asked Happy to take her to this new coffee shop. She heard they had fair trade coffee that was to die for. Happy grumbled about it being across town, but he still agreed to take her. Not like he had much choice. He still didn’t forgive himself for letting Pepper go inside the conference room. So anything he could do to win back Tony's trust he would do. And Tony had specifically ordered Happy to make sure Pepper was happy. Happy dropped her off to get coffee and told her that he would wait in the car just outside the coffee shop.

She entered the coffee shop, just to walk through its back door. It was a new place after all, and Happy had no time to investigate its safety. He had no time to find out that there was another entrance onto another busy New York street.

She walked out the back door and didn’t look back.

Notes:

Comments are appreciated!!!

Also, since I already kinda spoiled it with the tags, Peter is going to be their kid in the story (sorry Morgan), how old do you want to see him as? Do you want him to be a little baby, or already a teenager?