Just a little bit of Tony/Pepper fluff because she should have answered her damn phone so this conversation could have happened.


"Tony, can I ask you something?" The billionaire looked up at his girlfriend in curious surprise. They were sat in the main room at the top of the newly rebuilt Stark Tower, enjoying their evening in relative silence.

"Sure," he said after a moment, quickly calculating anything he had done wrong in the last few days. Remarkably, he came up blank.

"Before. When Loki was turning New York into his personal playground." Tony stiffened slightly. Pepper tended to avoid talk about his battles, he knew she found it far too stressful and he respected her more than he could say for putting up with it. "You called me."

This was actually a conversation they had had in the past. When Tony had first met up with Pepper after the fighting she had demanded to know why he was ringing her in the middle of a war and 'damn it Tony Stark if you were calling to say goodbye I will slap you.' And then she'd slapped him anyway before collapsing into his arms as a pile of stressed out, relieved and very much in love girlfriend. He'd spent several weeks paying for the worry he'd caused. But that was almost a year ago now, and hadn't been mentioned in months.

"Yes..." He hedged. He really didn't want to find himself banned from his own bed for the night.

"I've been wondering about it." She hesitated, avoiding his eyes by picking at her nail polish. She looked so timid that Tony had the sudden urge to wrap his arms around her. She didn't pull away.

"What have you been wondering?"

"What would you have said?" Now, he knew he had to be careful here. Pepper seemed to hate it whenever he made self sacrificing moves, so saying that he was going to tell her how important she was to him just before he blasted himself into outer space probably was unwise. Unable to come up with anything better, he simply said:

"I don't think you'd like it." She shook her head.

"I still want to know." And it was in her voice, that soft, reproachful tone that let Tony know he had already lost this argument. He could never resist her when she spoke like that. And so, he told her.

"I was going to tell you I love you." She looked up at him, twisting in his embrace but still not pulling away. "I was going to say how sorry I was for what I was about to do and how I hoped you could forgive me for it. All I could think about was that you were in New York the day before and how any one of the people in the city could have been you. I couldn't survive if I lost you Pepper Potts." She was silent, staring up at him with wide, adoring eyes. "I wanted to say that... It's you. It's always you. Always has been. You make me a better person Pep, and you will forever be the best part of me. There is nothing I want if I can't have you at my side to scold me for being a child with too much money." She chuckled slightly, sounding choked. Tears had started rolling down her cheeks, but neither of them made any move to acknowledge them. "Everything I've done... All those battles. It wouldn't have meant anything, I wouldn't have accomplished anything at all if it meant that I lost you. Ironman wouldn't be anything without Pepper Potts behind him." He took her hands in his, rubbing small circles to try and comfort her. "That's what I would have said."

Everything was still. They sat there for several long minutes, entwined, while Pepper cried it out and Tony silently prayed he still had a bed for tonight. He had to resist the almost overwhelming urge to make a snarky comment that was so Stark, but he didn't want to ruin the moment. Despite the tears, this moment was pretty much perfect for him. Then again, provided he had his Pepper within arm's reach, every moment was perfect.

It took a moment, but his girlfriend slowly collected herself, sniffling softly and wiping away the tears. She didn't really know why she was crying, but now she wanted to be strong, so she could get through this without a breakdown. She felt raw, even if she couldn't really explain it.

"Tony, that was... beautiful." She stared into his eyes, trying to work out what he was thinking. The media would have you believe that Stark was an open book of childhood issues and snarky comments, but she knew the real him: the complex genius that still hadn't recovered from Afghanistan and was constantly insecure that one day, everyone he cared about would turn on him. "I... I don't even know what to say. I love you." She buried her face in his shoulder and hugged him. She could feel his arms tighten around her, careful not to hurt her.

"I would probably have had to paraphrase; time was a little short but-" he joked but then Pepper cut him off with a kiss. It was soft and sweet and damn if it wasn't the most glorious moment he'd ever had. What had he ever done to deserve a girl like her? She pulled back after a moment, laying her cheek on his chest, over his heart. "I'm never going to deserve you, am I Miss Potts?" She didn't say anything, but had he been able to see her face he would have seen her brow crease in a frown. "But I swear to you, I will spend every moment for the rest of my life trying to."

"If that involves you flying through portals that blow out your arc reactor, I'd really rather you didn't," she told him, grinning. He chuckled softly.

"Right, no saving the world with kamikaze portal diving. Noted." And the comment was worth it just to hear her beautiful laugh. He'd always be in love with that sound. "I love you Miss Potts." She looked up at him so she could look at his bright, intelligent eyes when she replied:

"And I love you Mr Stark."


Yay, fluff. God it's fun to write. Only short I know, sorry. I didn't want this dragging on. I might do a follow up with the rest of the team observing Tony and Pepper. That might be fun. Let me know what you think :)