Disclaimer: i own nothing to do with the movie..... sadly enough i don't even own the movie.... i really need to work on that.... :-D
He wasn't a drinking man… actually that was a lie… He was a drinking man; in fact, drinking was how he had made his way through life- or what parts he could remember.
Drinking and women had made his life have the semblance of completeness, without the whole fulfillment part.
However, that had all been before being taken captive by the Ten Rings.
That was before meeting Yensin-
That was when he realized the stark (a chuckle here, even when being serious and pseudo-angsty his mind was making glib jokes.) reality had been verbalized.
You are the man with everything, and you have nothing.
He was quietly offended at that moment in time. Although his poker face had said, nothing to the man that became closer than the brother that he'd never had.
But the more he thought about it, as the days and nights of the captivity had dragged on, he had realized the undeniable truth in those words...
But that was months ago And he was not a nostalgic man.
Now, he was Iron Man, the newest addition to SHEILD (which he still knew very little about) and the only "superhero" without a secret identity.
He had been given a slight lecture by the initiative's leader and then some other cryptic information which really had been no help- whatsoever.
Mr. Fury had said he would be in touch.
Great.
2 days before the Press Conference,
He had woken up with a worried looking redhead bending over him.
"Tony? Wake up please." She had pleaded/demanded.
"Hello Pepper." He had slurred unintentionally. His eyes feeling full of dirt- and his body feeling like it had been viciously pummeled by a large killer robot…
Oh, right.
"I'm going to call a hospital. Just stay with me." The concern in her eyes had delighted him in some perverse way. Nevertheless, the Tony Stark from before had refused to let things pass into the sunset.
Therefore, he promptly ruined the moment as his stubborn streak reared its head.
"I'm not dying Potts. Just a little sore is all. Don't need the hospital- no don't argue. Call Happy, or Rhody- Or someone with a car. I am going home."
She had argued with him- but they ended up at his giant house- having a moment of Déjà Vu when he called her down into his workshop an hour after they arrived.
He was once again propped up against his bench- a heart monitor beeping regularly- a light shining on the metallic disc in his chest that glowed with a ferocious blue light.
"I need you Pepper."He croaked from his position- Stopping her words of rebuke in her throat.
It also stopped her heart slightly- or perhaps made it flutter and jump a bit, although he hadn't meant it the way it sounded; Like some cheesy line from a half rate romantic comedy.
The blue light wasn't very bright today- and it seemed to flicker like a heartbeat itself.
That was when she realized why he needed her.
"No," She said- a look of apprehension on her pale face. "You said I wouldn't have to do this again."
He rolled his eyes appreciatively,
"Well, that was before my evil partner ripped my heart out of my chest and ran his evil robot with it."
She blanched at his words- everything was beginning to fall into place, all the gaps that were that night were beginning to become clear…er.
Pepper had moved closer- and was now staring down at her boss's chest with slight fascination… at the arc reactor of course, not the way his chest rose and fell with each breath… not the fact that he was extremely muscular, Pepper couldn't remember him being this muscular before.
Yes, it would always be before. And she would always know what she was referring to when saying it.
Before she had gone into depression when her boss had been kidnapped, with zero chance of survival.
Before he had been wheeled down the back end of a huge military plane looking like they had dropped him out without a parachute while they were in flight.
Before that fateful press conference when she had realized that, something was different about him.
Before she had realized that Tony Stark was not akin to the heartless harbingers of destruction that he designed
"Is that?" She asked- eying the reactor fluttering in his chest.
"Is that the "Proof that Tony Stark Has A Heart"? Why yes, yes it is." He glanced at the smashed glass still lying all across the floor. "Sorry about the case, but I really needed my heart back. Good thing you kept it safe and sound."
Pepper was unable to stop the blush that ran to her roots- the implications of his words immediately ran through her mind. Even if- once again- he had not meant them the way that they had sounded.
He had given her his heart.
"You need me to reattach it don't you?" She replied, without emotion. Hoping that he hadn't seen her reaction. And if she caused him to concentrate on something more important, he would forget he had noticed, if he did.
"Yep, time to play Operation again with my favorite nurse." He grinned blithely at her in his roguish way. "Same drill as last time- Had a spare synthesized while you were fussing upstairs- it will do the job for the time being."
She was careful pulling the magnet out this time- he noticed her meticulous removal with a slight grin- making her quite self-conscious, although she had no idea why.
She only touched the metal wall once, causing him to wince and hiss in pain.
"Sorry!" She squeaked. "I'm very sorry Mr. Stark."
"You know if this happens again, I am attaching an annoying buzzer and a red light to my nose," His smile was strained as he gestured for her to continue.
The arc was inserted without further mishap- and she sighed in relief when the throbbing blue light was replaced by the steady glow.
He relaxed against the seat- laying his head back and exhaling noisily.
This hero business wasn't as easy as he'd thought it would be.
"You know, you should really attempt to do something about that smell." She said after several moments of silence. "I mean- you are a genius after all."
He grinned with his eyes closed. But it was starting to hurt to show expression. So he regretted it.
"Yeah, I'll get to that."
"And you should have gone to the hospital. You are clearly injured in more than one place- and you've played hero enough for a long time. You just need to rest."
"Is that all Miss Potts?" He queried in that infuriating way that told her immediately that she was being dismissed from his presence at this time.
She pursed her lips, and frowned.
"Yes Mr. Stark. That's all."
"Thank you. That's all I'll need for the night."
She turned and made her way towards the nonexistent glass wall and the stairs that led upward.
Pepper was angry- every line in her body said so- Tony did feel bad for causing that emotion, but she had been babying him, which was the last thing he needed.
He stood- trying to prove to her that he didn't need any help- and moved toward his favorite car: The hot-rod with red and gold flames up the side.
He bent down next to it and began to tinker.
He was so intent on this façade that he didn't notice her sneak a glance at him before she went upstairs- she watched him work for a few seconds- An inscrutable expression on her face- Then she was gone, and he continued working, completely unaware.
When he heard the upstairs door slide shut with its metallic whoosh, he sagged up against the car and his metal workbench, panting and wheezing with exertion.
Pain shot through most of his body. Not the sharp pain of broken bones- but the deep throbbing pain of a body that had been roughed up way too many times in the past few weeks.
After years of living soft, and pampering himself to his every whim, His body was complaining.
He lifted his arms gingerly and pulled his t-shirt off, Flinching at the sight that greeted his eyes.
There were huge bruises all over his body, extending from his upper chest to the base of his abdomen. Looking in the reflective surface of the many metal objects in his workspace, his back was no better off, these weren't your run of the mill yellow-green bruises. They were deep purple and black- some were raised and welty looking
This was only a few hours after.
He couldn't imagine what he was going to look like in a few days when all the bruises finally made their way to the surface.
He swore and Owwed loudly- no, the shirt wasn't going back on. It hurt too much.
"Are you alright sir?"
Jarvis asked- an almost worry-like sound crept into the automated voice.
"Should I call Miss Potts?"
Tony settled back in a semi crouch position- trying to keep his bruised flesh from touching anything. His left arm was starting to turn purple.
Great.
"No." He replied irritably. "She's already gone. There's no need to call her back. I'm fine."
Jarvis almost commented on the fact that Miss Potts was not gone yet. In fact- all of its processors told him that she wasn't leaving at all tonight. The computer had automatically documented her movements around the house. The front door hadn't been used yet. She had moved up the stairs- into the kitchen for 4.5 minutes and then down the hall into the almost unused wing of the house and into the spare room that couldn't been seen unless you made your way at least halfway down the wing hall.
If Jarvis was going to make suppositions about this strange occurrence- he would almost say that she was trying to keep herself hidden from Mr. Stark's knowledge. Since he clearly thought, she had left.
The computer was not trying to deceive his Master/Creator.
If Mr. Stark asked where she was, or if she was in the house. Jarvis would tell him immediately.
"Jarvis?" The computer immediately registered the voice as Virginia P. Potts.
"Yes?"
He replied. The voice was coming from the bed in the spare room. Cameras indicated that she was laying in her bed reading.
"If Mr. Stark needs help for any reason during the night- Contact me please."
Jarvis logged the request- and finding no reason not to comply with it, he agreed. She nodded, more to herself than to the house computer. She then turned out the light and got more comfortable in her bed.
12.47 minutes later, he logged that she had fallen asleep.
Tony Stark sat against his father's favorite car for a long time. Breathing in and out- trying to get rid of the dizziness and fatigue that seemed to constantly plague him since his joining with the suit- or more correctly- since he had come home from Iraq.
This and the unreasonable loathing of the thought of crawling into his own bed and sleeping off the pain kept him in the workshop.
"Jarvis, would you mind turning the lights off?"
The workshop suddenly filled with perpetual darkness.
Panic clawed at his heart- the dark was something he feared irrationally since his capture. That cave had been this dark when his kidnappers would decide their curfew was up for the night. They were not allowed any light until morning.
The only thing that had gotten him through was the feeble blue light emanating from his "Heart".
He delicately settled back into the leather front seat of the roadster, his entire body was killing him. But it was ok, for the first time in a long time- he felt safe.
Within minutes, he was asleep, head resting against the firm cool leather of the passenger seat.
"Ms. Potts?"
The pseudo-metallic voice intruded into her dreams of someone's dark eyes gazing into hers as the stars shone down as they had not so long ago.
"Ms. Potts?"
It said again- the scene being replayed in her mind suddenly blanked out as she came back to the real world. The real world that she didn't recognize.
Nothing in the darkness was familiar to her- a slight glow came from the bed stand next to her.
"I'm sorry for waking you, but you asked me to."
Everything came back. She had decided to stay at Tony's house for the night to make sure he was ok.
It was Jarvis' voice that had broken her out of slumber.
She moaned and rubbed her eyes.
"It's ok Jarvis. What's wrong?"
"You told me to inform you of any changes in the normal routine of Mr. Stark's evening. If at any time he needed help."
Pepper resisted the urge to smack the nonexistent computer's face; it could be so obnoxiously wordy at times.
"Get to the point Jarvis,"
"Mr. Stark is downstairs- thrashing violently and calling out."
"He's not in his room?"
"No. He is in his workshop."
"Is there anyone down there with him?" Pepper's mind automatically went to the thought that he may have decided he needed female company. That would explain a lot.
He hadn't done something like that since he had come back, this had been a trying day. And he'd used a lot worse excuses to call in girls before.
"Mr. Stark is alone. He appears to be having a night terror- I made this diagnosis from the medical journal that was downloaded into my memory in case of emergency."
Pepper frowned. She could just let him work through it himself- then he need not know she stayed the night, and she could forgo the awkward questioning as to why she had stayed in the first place. Then she would have to make up some excuse and attempt to make herself sound like an overly attentive assistant, not a woman who worried about the man she was… the man she admired. The boss she admired. She corrected.
"Is he still having it?" She asked. It had only been about 5 seconds. But there was a possibility.
"Yes." Jarvis replied after only the smallest moment of quiet. "It appears to be getting worse."
Pepper was already out the door and rushing down towards the subterranean workshop.
Even if she hadn't known the workshop like the back of her hand she would have been easily led to him by the blue glow that surrounded him in a halo of soft light.
That and the half-choked words that were tumbling out of his mouth.
She crept up beside him, worried about disturbing his rest,
"No!" He yelled tearfully, "I need him, he is a good helper."
Another long pause while he thrashed brutally about- it was a miracle that he hadn't bashed his head against the metal car and woken himself up.
He continued- saying things like: I won't build it- and then small cries of pain that made her heart ache and thud against her rib cage.
It was at this point that she opened the car door as quietly as she could- and sat down in the driver's seat, making as little noise and movement as possible.
He was rocking- and calling out the same name- Yensin.
Tony had mentioned him once or twice, the only fellow prisoner that he saw during his months of capture. He had also said that Yensin had been killed. But he had never elaborated on that- she had never felt it was her right to ask.
"I'm sorry" He said, and she saw tears leak out from under his closed eyelids and run in rivers down his face and into his neatly trimmed beard. It was hard for her, seeing him cry. The sudden reality hit her- she had never seen him cry. Not once.
Once several years ago, in a moment of weakness, she had asked Jarvis to show her the recording of his parents' funeral.
It had been one of the only private moments of the young man's life. No news station had gotten any footage of the ceremony at his parents' old home.
He had had it recorded, though, why she would never know, and she had watched it one evening- while he was gone on a "business trip" that she doubted had anything to do with Stark Industries.
She had sat on the couch and watched as the black screen suddenly came to life.
Pepper couldn't remember paying the black sheep, heir to the Stark empire much mind when he was young, or even before she sought his employment, so, at that moment, she had asked to see the funeral. To get to know the man whom she knew so much, and so little about.
It was raw and uncut, starting jerkily at the gravesite, the twin coffins lying in grim estate while the cold and grey fall morning blew around them.
She picked him out immediately- Standing next to Obadiah Stane.
For once since she had known Tony, he looked small, Vulnerable even.
But he didn't cry-
He stood in a solemn black coat that made him look a great deal older than his 17 years- and stared at the beautiful wooden caskets that held his parents' bodies.
Pepper stared at his face, amazed at how much younger he looked then.
His chin was bare- and his eyes were dull, there was none of the debonair, blasé indifference that he had now.
But to her great despair he didn't cry.
He just stood, emotionless. Not a flicker of expression crossing his white face throughout the entire ceremony.
He didn't speak, just simply stood and listened to the man of God give the eulogy; if anyone wouldn't have known they would assume that he was attending the memorial service of someone that he hadn't known very well or whom he cared not a whit about.
Before and after watching the video- she never asked him about the service, or his parents. It was another thing that she just didn't feel right prying into.
Pepper gently lifted his head and placed it onto her lap- knowing that this would blow the "overbearing assistant" ploy out of the water.
But it was worth it- he really did need her.
"Sshh." She said soothingly. Bending close so that her words slipped right into his ear, she stroked his hair tenderly, the dark locks parted easily between her fingers.
He quieted slightly.
"It's ok Tony." She whispered. "You're going to be alright- I'm going to make sure you're alright."
It was funny- even though she had worked with him for at least 10 years now- it always bugged her to call him Tony
Sure, it had almost always been Tony in her mind; that's how she always referred to him when in her thoughts and inner dialogue.
It wasn't right to be on first name terms with her boss. Well, not a boss like hers.
If they were that friendly, people would start to think that she had gotten where she was on more than hard work, and there had been enough speculation about that anyway, especially after he had taken to calling her Pepper-, which had happened after she had been working for him for two weeks.
She secretly thought it was only to annoy her- because the first two weeks had been filled with him trying to get her into his bed.
She had firmly although politely refused.
Therefore, he had simply begun calling her Pepper.
Not that she didn't call him Tony at all.
They were friends, if perhaps tentative friends- nevertheless, it had taken her at least 4 years to get up the courage to call him Tony.
She had been riding with him in his beautiful blue Mustang going almost triple the speed limit. Pepper- clinging to her side of the car- had squealed his name just once as they nearly ran off the road during a sharp turn.
"Tony?" He had asked, grinning fiercely and slowing down to a mere 90 mph.
"It's your name isn't it?" She had growled at him in a rare fit of anger.
He raised his eyebrows once- didn't make another comment, and continued their drive at a less frantic pace.
By the end of the ride Pepper had wanted to kick herself, he'd won again.
He had calmed completely while she cradled his head on her knees- his breaths coming evenly and deeply as he fell into a deep and undisturbed sleep.
She realized suddenly that her other hand (the one that hadn't been skimming through his hair) was now firmly grasped in his.
He had seized it during one of the more violent parts of his dream and now- when she attempted to remove it so that she could quietly slip back to her own room- she found that he had no intention of releasing it- and if she pried any harder, he would wake up.
She sighed and groaned and cursed her terrible luck.
Although- to admit the truth, she had often fantasized about being this close to him. When he was the Tony Stark that she had glimpsed so rarely under the suit- before his Superhero suit of course- that was the Tony that she had fallen in- she had come to admire, and it seemed that that Tony was the one that was primarily in control these days. She had seen more of him since his return than she had ever seen before, and it had made things that much harder.
"Has he had this happen before?" She asked the air above her in something that was barely a whisper.
"Yes." Jarvis replied, sensing the need for quiet. "Every night since he came back from his captivity."
This information disturbed and saddened her- she had known that he had returned with scars- both physical and mental, but strangely enough for him, he had been loathe to talk about them and so she had left it alone. Another topic locked in the vault of things the two of them don't talk about.
"Does he usually sleep in a car?"
"He has over the past few weeks, although several times he has fallen asleep at his workbench and table, twice he fell asleep in the living room and eight times he slept on the floor next to his bed."
"Did he say why?"
"Yes," Jarvis replied instantly. "I asked him the first night he did this if I could make some alternate sleeping arrangements. He told me no, and that he liked the floor better, it was cool and then he made some obscure reference which ended in Cave Sweet Cave. I can replay the sound byte if you wish- there are no security risks on the tape that you are not privy to."
"No." She said carefully, still digesting the information. "That's alright. I've got it."
Jarvis went silent, so did she, right hand still tracing across his scalp while he slept.
The home computer automatically adjusted the lights as the natural light changed outside- it woke Pepper and she realized the Tony must have set it that way.
She stretched carefully, as not to wake her boss, head still lying in her lap.
However, the light revealed to her something that she almost would have rather not seen- this was why he had taken to wearing long sleeves lately.
His body was covered with horrific marks.
The suit, for all that he promised her that it kept the bullets from getting through- was still not padded enough to keep him from looking like he had been though a meat grinder the previous evening.
She could almost swear that he had some damaged ribs.
Then below the bruises and contusions, were scars. They couldn't be too new, they were still that pinkish color that stood out so well when you were trying your hardest not to let them show.
In addition, they looked like they had come from hasty sutures. Like someone had patched up his entire chest in a hugely panicky hurry.
The majority of them were across his chest and around his heart- or the arc reactor; she wondered how she had missed them when replacing the reactor those two times.
Either she had just been too freaked out about sticking her hand into her boss's chest or he had gotten good at covering them up.
It was then that she became conscious of the fact that at some point, while she had been asleep during the night, he had let go of her hand.
Pepper made her exit as fast as she possibly could and slipped upstairs, she checked the clock on the way out- it was 6:07. She doubted that he would be up for another hour at least and Happy wouldn't be coming to work until 7:45 this morning. There was no danger of him catching her leaving Mr. Stark's house.
She could get home and change and shower and do all those morning things that she needed to do- and get back before anyone noticed anything different.
Pepper Potts smiled in triumph. No one –except Jarvis- would ever know what she had done that night.
A small part of her wished that he would have caught her taking care of him, and that maybe he would feel the same way about her- but she squelched that idea instantly.
More likely, he would ask her to accompany him to the master suite- And in the weak and unguarded frame of mind that she was in right now- she might agree to it.
That was not the way she wanted to go-That way led to her being seen out by the new assistant who got to make rude, veiled threats about her being a slut.
No. This was how it would stay; for now she was quite happy.
She had allowed herself to become attached, and she would eventually eradicate this attachment.
But the best part was… She thought again
No one would ever find out.
If you liked it make like a critic and review, if you didnt, rinse and repeat.
It's my first Iron Man Fanfic, so bear with me, i'm getting the hang of it.