Chapter Text
Virginia Pepper Potts woke as the link to the duplicate broke. She had seen the betrayal, resignation, and pain in Tony's eyes even as he shot her duplicate. If she never saw him again she was at least relieved that her friend was still alive. Breathing deeply she noticed that she was encased in some sort of watery liquid with a faint cyan tint to it. When she tried to move she realized that she was held in place by an unknown metal in bands around wrists, upper arms, across her forehead that also extending down each side of her head, waist, thighs, and ankles. The lack of a breathing mask was odd but she didn't have any trouble breathing through the liquid for all that it filled her lungs completely. The oval pod like door in front of her was completely clear and she could see Happy Hogan in a different pod across from her but still asleep or unconscious. It reminded her heavily of the Cryo pods from the Lost in Space movie.
Someone stepped in front of the alien pod Virginia was being kept in. Her eyes narrowed as she took them in. If she didn't know better she would swear that this person was a Wood Elf from that stupid Skyrim Game that Tony tricked her into playing for almost twelve hours straight one weekend. That's it! Not Wood Elves who were known as Bosmer but High Elves! Altmer! Dunmer were the Dark Elves and the Snow Elves were corrupted into the Falmer.... She was going to kill Tony for teaching her all of that!
"Impressive," the word drifted lightly from the lips of this male elf and reached her ears despite the liquid.
Pepper didn't try to talk. She knew the liquid would distort anything she tried to say. Her lips visibly thinned even as her eyes narrowed in anger. The duplicate had tried to draw on her anger and rage to direct at Tony and Doctor Strange but instead she had fed the puppet her extreme annoyance and exasperation. Her responses were similar enough for those when it came to Tony that it worked.
"I do hope your guard does better. I would much rather not execute the pair of you," the elf said softly but clearly.
Pepper made a face and rolled her eyes. She knew it wouldn't work but she also knew that by now Tony probably realized something had happened to Happy as well and would play along to follow the track back. Not that she was going to tell her captor that.
"The liquid will transfer your words clearly enough if you wish to speak with how long you have been soaking in the link pod," the elf said casually.
"Good," Pepper said bluntly. "If you wanted a word with Mr. Stark or his current attending physician, Doctor Strange, you should have just made an appointment. None of this was necessary. On the other hand, now that you've taken us he's going to be extremely pissed off."
The elf tilted his head to the side in thoughtful contemplation of both her and her warning.
"They are not lovers?" the elf asked curiously.
"If they are it is fairly recent to the best of my knowledge," Pepper answered honestly. "Whatever changed between them isn't something I have been told about but what I saw through the eyes of my duplicate tells me that you made a big mistake. What that mistake was depends on your goals and actual intentions in doing all of this in the first place."
"You are willing to help?" The elf asked, brow furrowed in confusion.
"Again, that depends entirely on what you plan to do and what your goals are," Pepper said bluntly. "My co-worker in the other pod across from me would be the same. The problem for now is that we guard Mr. Stark from those who wish him harm or to twist him into a monster and by taking us you have removed some of that protection. He has other protections but as far as we are concerned you have put him at increasing risk by taking us and not at least trying to use normal means to have a discussion with him."
"I... see," the elf said, visibly displeased at that answer.
"Perhaps I should phrase it a different way," Pepper offered frostily. "Prince Thor of Asgard frequently calls Mr. Stark a Prince of Midgard. I don't know how you classify things so I have no idea what rank among your own people he might technically have."
The way the elf froze told Pepper that she had hit the nail on the head. The elf had thought that Tony didn't qualify for a higher status than probably commoner and may not even be aware of Tony's ownership of SI. A single man with few friends and counted as a warrior was far more easily dealt with than someone like Tony. Why there was a need for such an elaborate set up with clones and kidnapping was another matter entirely.
Pepper watched the elf wander away, brow furrowed in thought. She waited an extra ten minutes before she set about trying to get out of the be damned pod, preferably without activating her Extremis enhancement. She had to get herself and Happy back to Tony and hope that nothing else had gone horribly wrong.
~~~
Tao settled Peter with Colonel Rhodes to watch over a sleeping Tony as she pulled Stephen with her into another room for a private chat. Stephen reluctantly followed after her, wanting nothing more than to stay with Tony. A few spells sealed the room before Tao started the conversation.
"Anthony needs a safe place to just let himself break," Tao said bluntly. "At this rate he will rip himself apart trying to do everything and refusing to process everything he has been dealing with or feeling. The magic and the alternate memories are only part of the problem. If he continues to refuse to stop long enough to process things it could very well kill him."
"I know," Stephen said, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "I suspect that the Masters will find that Potts' body is not actually her. It is definitely a dead body but there are certain mystic arts that can be used to duplicate another form or re-enforce the puppet body. When Tony wakes up again I plan to tell him and then tie him down while you send the Order or possibly just Agatha after whoever actually has her. For preference I would accept Wong, Agatha, Kaecilius, or you staying as guards but I know that might not be feasible and it won't fit any of you for your specialties. There is only so much longer we have until I have to attend to my duties as Sorcerer Supreme or the geas kicks in for one or both of us. Its a miracle we've had this long to try and heal in the first place."
Tao let out a sigh relief and gave him a small smile.
"Good. I was afraid that you were forgetting those things," Tao said softly. "I will see what I can arrange. The food donations you sent to us early on came through just fine and have been distributed appropriately. I received the final confirmations just before Jarvis and Peter sent their frantic call for aid."
"Thank you," Stephen said just as softly.
"Whatever you believed before you now know that you are my son, not just my student. I do care, Stephen," Tao said with a soft smile. "I retrieved my memories of my alternate up until my death in your student universe. So I now remember our interactions as you do. I think that our newer memories are far more apt for all of my missteps than how harsh I was to get you minimally ready for taking my place. You've already changed things and I can't help but be glad for it. We will solve this. I promise you."
"Thank you," Stephen said gratefully.
They quickly returned to the others and settled in once more to wait.