"Tony! No more games, I just—"
"Pepper, Pepper, woah, hold on just a minute." He flinched away from his ear piece as she shrieked into the phone. He loved her, but man did that woman have a set of lungs on her. Okay, he usually loved that too, but right now, not so much.
"No, Tony. I had a missed call from you. What were you trying to tell me?"
He was grateful she couldn't see his face over the phone; she was always a hound for his slightly sheepish look. "I told you, Pep, I tried to call you after to see if you wanted to join us for shawarma. Forgot that you'd flown to DC, alright? A guy can't be expected to remember everything."
"Tony." Her voice softened, making his stomach flop. He hated when she played that trick. "The only time I was away from my phone was during the live broadcast of the battle. I watched you take that missile up into that portal or whatever the hell it was. You weren't planning on coming back from that, were you?"
He sighed, clenching his jaw. Dammit, he should have hacked her phone and erased the notification before she'd noticed. Suddenly he was so grateful she hadn't answered in the first place. "Does it really matter, Pepper? I'm still here, aren't I?"
"It does matter!" Her voice cut off, and he knew she was fighting tears. Suddenly he hated himself a little more. "You've got to stop trying to get yourself killed, alright? You promised me you'd stay alive. You promised."
He looked around, making sure none of the others were within hearing shot of him. His own voice finally softened. "I'm sorry. You're right; I should have taken better care of myself. You know me; I can't promise I won't pull anymore stunts like that. Stunts like that are what I thrive on. But I'll do my best to stay alive, for you, like I promised, alright?"
"And you'll start telling me things? I don't need you to start shutting me out again."
His lips quirked at the spunk in his girl's voice. "Of course I will."
"Good. I'm having the jet turn around now. I'll be back in New York tonight. We'll look at the damage to the tower, see what can be salvaged… and then you and I will…"
His mouth dropped into an absolutely filthy grin. That's why he loved that woman.