"Then that handsome face of yours should also charm the aliens," Luke replied while standing up. "Maybe you can use it to save yourself next time."
Tony sighed internally.
Luke seriously enjoyed attacking his ego whenever possible.
Honestly, this was emotional abuse against handsome geniuses.
Tony immediately stopped him before he could leave.
"Okay, okay, I'm joking," Tony said quickly.
Luke looked at him calmly for a second.
"Yeah," he replied. "I'm also joking."
The moment he finished speaking, the metal bars of the cells disappeared instantly.
"Tony, are you still there?" Pepper's voice came from the other side immediately after.
"Yeah," Tony answered while motioning toward Luke to do his thing already.
Luke snapped his fingers casually.
Pepper instantly appeared outside the cell and immediately rushed toward Tony without hesitation.
Tony confidently opened his arms while preparing for what he assumed would be an emotional reunion hug.
Instead—
A loud slap echoed across the prison corridor.
"Did you lose your brain somewhere?!" Pepper shouted furiously. "Why the hell did you lock me up here?!"
Tony stood there completely dumbfounded while holding his cheek in shock.
Meanwhile Luke quietly stood nearby with both hands inside his pockets, acting like he had absolutely nothing to do with the misunderstanding currently destroying Tony's emotional expectations.
"Pepper, is that seriously what you understood after all these years with me?" Tony asked while still holding his cheek. "It wasn't me. It was some other guy wearing my face."
He pointed toward himself dramatically.
"I was the victim here too."
Pepper still looked suspicious.
"Hey," Tony said while turning toward Luke. "Little help here?"
Luke sighed slightly before answering.
"Yeah, it wasn't Tony," he explained calmly. "They're called Skrulls. Shape-shifting aliens."
Pepper frowned immediately after hearing that.
Luke continued.
"They can copy appearances, voices, behavior, and even memories to a ridiculous level. In most cases you genuinely can't distinguish the real person from the fake one."
Pepper's expression slowly changed after hearing that explanation.
"So the fake Tony was the one who imprisoned you," Luke finished.
Tony immediately nodded.
"Exactly."
Then he crossed his arms.
"And do you know who imprisoned me afterward?"
Pepper looked at him uncertainly.
"…Aliens?"
Tony pointed directly at her.
"No. You."
Pepper blinked in confusion.
"Well," Tony corrected himself immediately, "technically the alien wearing your face."
Pepper rubbed her forehead slowly while trying to process the entire situation.
Aliens had somehow infiltrated Earth, copied both of them, kidnapped them separately, and locked them inside underground cells without anyone noticing.
Honestly, after everything involving New York, Chitauri invasions, gods, killer robots, and whatever insanity usually followed Tony around, she should not even have been surprised anymore.
Still—
She looked toward Tony again.
Yeah.
This disaster somehow definitely felt connected to him specifically.
"So can we leave already?" Pepper asked, pressing her fingers lightly against her forehead. "I'm feeling kind of hungry."
Her expression shifted into something more uncomfortable a moment after.
"And after three days in this place, I honestly feel sick and nauseated."
Luke's eyes moved briefly toward her stomach before settling back on Tony.
Then he extended his hand toward him slowly.
"Tony," Luke said, "when's the marriage?"
Tony looked at him with genuine confusion, his brain cycling through the question and finding no immediate context for why Luke would bring up marriage in the middle of a prison break.
Then it connected.
Pepper feeling nauseous. Luke looking at her stomach before asking.
Tony's expression shifted completely. He stared at Luke for a moment then looked at Pepper, the disbelief and something else entirely moving across his face at the same time.
"You're kidding," Tony said, and even asking it his voice already carried the answer he was hoping for underneath.
Luke shook his head calmly.
"Nope."
The corridor went quiet.
Pepper had been following the exchange and the moment the full implication landed her hand moved instinctively toward her stomach, her eyes widening slightly as she stood there processing it.
Tony said nothing for several seconds, just stood in a prison looking like a man who had just had the floor shift underneath him in the best possible way.
"Well," he said finally, his voice quieter than usual, "that's one hell of a way to find out."
"So Tony," Luke said calmly, "from now on you should be careful. You're not exactly a free man anymore."
Then he snapped his fingers.
A faint blue glow surrounded Pepper for a moment before disappearing into her body completely. The exhaustion on her face disappeared almost instantly while the nausea and weakness faded away like they had never existed.
Pepper blinked slightly in surprise.
"I just removed the stress from your body," Luke explained casually.
Then he looked toward her stomach briefly.
"And consider it a gift. Your child will be born healthy, beautiful, and free from sickness."
Pepper genuinely did not know how to respond to that for a moment.
Tony meanwhile looked completely overwhelmed now.
"So congratulations," Luke continued calmly. "You're becoming a father."
Pepper looked toward Tony afterward because somehow this entire situation still felt unreal.
A few minutes ago they had been trapped inside a Skrull prison.
Now they were talking about having a child.
Tony suddenly hugged Pepper tightly while trying very hard not to look emotional about it.
Unfortunately the slightly watery eyes ruined the attempt completely.
Then a tired voice suddenly interrupted the moment.
"Umm… if the love drama is over, can someone get me out too?"
The three of them turned toward another nearby cell.
Nick Fury sat inside looking exhausted, irritated, and honestly slightly miserable.
Luke smiled immediately after seeing him.
"Well, well," he said casually. "Long time no see. How are you doing, Fury?"
Fury slowly looked around the prison cell surrounding him before staring directly at Luke.
"…Can't you see?"
Luke nodded seriously.
"Yeah," he replied. "That's exactly why I'm asking."
Fury looked completely done with everything.
Luke casually walked closer afterward.
"So," he continued, "did you finally learn your lesson? Never trust species that can casually steal faces and identities."
Fury sighed heavily while leaning against the wall.
"Hard lesson to learn," he muttered.
*****
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