IRON MAN 3 SPOILERS!
Screams. Explosions. Gunfire.
Pepper Potts groaned, pain and fire coursing through her veins. She forced her eyes open, her gaze weakly flitting around the room.
"Tony" she squeaked out, the fingers of her free hand -the one not being crushed by rubble- twitching as if to grasp a hand that wasn't there.
The redhead flinched when there was a crash across the room, letting out a barely audible cry of pain when the debris atop her dug further into her skin.
"Pepper!" came a loud scream
"Tony!" she attempted to yell, voice coming out strangled and weak
The brunette scrambled towards her voice, flinching when he saw the metal and concrete pinning his girlfriend to the floor. He grabbed a beam and pulled, intending to lift everything off of her. With the shift of the beam, a metal rod pushed further into Pepper's leg, causing her to scream out in pain.
"Stop!" she cried "Stop it!"
He immediately set the beam back down, desperately searching for a way to free her. He reached out his hand, biting down on his lip as the metal he was leaning against dug into his shoulders.
"Grab my hand!" he called to her
The woman stretched her arm as far as she could, biting down on her lip as she strained her muscles. Her eyes widened in panic.
"Tony look out!"
The brunette's shoulder was grabbed and he was violently yanked back just as the floor beneath Pepper collapsed.
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"Jarvis! Give me a suit!" Tony yelled at the top of his lungs, his gaze fixed on his girlfriend as she dangled from the collapsed floor
A suit came launching towards him and he spread his arms, ready to leap into it. Before he could, a man hyped up on Extremis dove onto the suit, tackling it away. The action resulted in a large explosion.
"Oh come on!" he exclaimed angrily
He continued running, leaping onto another platform and hauling himself onto a ladder. With a pained groan he pulled himself up and onto the platform, holding his hand out to Pepper. The woman immediately reached toward him, mere inches separating their fingers.
"Pepper!" he called "Baby I can't reach!" her fingers tightened around the metal bar she was holding onto "I need to you let go! I'll catch you!"
The woman hesitated, and before she could make her decision the floor beneath her gave way and she fell. A terrified shriek escaped her lips, and she reached towards Tony as she fell into the large explosion beneath them.
"Pepper!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, terror consuming his being
"What a shame. I would have caught her"
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Aldrich smirked cruelly as he advanced on Tony, skin burnt from the explosion the man had trapped him in. Tony scrambled back on the ground, and glared defiantly up at the man.
"I finally get to kill you" he smirked "After you watched your girlfriend die, too" Tony's gaze darkened and he looked away
"Hurry up and end it, Killian" he spat
He didn't care if he died anymore. He already lost Pepper. And she was all he had.
"Don't ever... ever... ever... Make me do anything like that ever again" "...I don't have anyone else but you.." silence was his answer and he shrugged, offering a slight apologetic smirk
His eyes slammed shut as Aldrich raised his fist, Pepper's voice ringing through his mind.
"You're all I have too, you know..."
His eyes shot open when he heard a crunch, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw Pepper standing in front of him. Before he could comment, he saw one of his many suits swooping towards them.
"Jarvis! Jarvis this one is Pepper! Don't shoot!" he raised a hand to his ear, blanching when he realized that he had no earpiece, meaning Jarvis couldn't hear him.
"Pepper-!"
The woman lurched out of the way, jumping up and grabbing the suit, shoving her fist through the chest of the object and ripping out its arc-reactor. She tossed it away where it promptly exploded and she turned back to Tony.
"I... I..." he trailed off "I've got nothing"
He got to his feet and moved towards the woman, and she jerked back abruptly.
"No! Don't! I- I'll burn you or-"
"-You're not going to hurt me" he assured, grabbing her hand gently "See? Nothing"
She stared blankly at him for a brief moment before throwing herself into his arms.
"I love you" she whispered
"I love you too" he murmured, grip on her tightening substantially. He nuzzled his face into her neck and sighed softly
"Jarvis? Go ahead"
There was no response, and then the suits began blowing up all around them. When there was nothing left, Pepper snuggled closer to Tony.
"You didn't have to do that" she whispered
"I did. To keep you safe" he whispered