Pepper had been in their penthouse master suite getting dressed when she heard a loud rumble followed by what sounded like a drill coming from the kitchen. "Oh, God, not again!" she exclaimed to herself.

She quickly ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs to find Tony sitting on the floor, with the refrigerator pulled out and turned around, promptly unscrewing the back panel. "What are you doing now?!" she gasped.

Tony turned around. "Oh, hey, baby," he said, smiling proudly. "You're looking beautiful." Pepper said nothing, and instead stood there in front of him, glaring, her jaw set. When Tony realized his flattery wasn't going to soften her, he turned back around. "Uh, it seems like the fridge isn't as cold as it used to be. I thought I should take a look, so I got my tools, and..."

"No, Tony!" Pepper interjected. "That fridge is only a few years old. And they don't break down that easily. You know that," she huffed.

"Then it's a factory defect on this one," he stated, jabbing a thumb it its direction. "It'll only take a sec, Pep." He flashed a quick smile at her, turned back around, and proceeded to unscrew the rest of the back panel, exposing the motor, condenser, and coils.

"Tony, stop! Please!" she said, holding out her hand. She rushed to his side. "This doesn't need to be fixed. It's fine. I promise," she pleaded. She carefully pulled the drill out of his hand, and he looked at her curiously. She held out her other hand to help him up off the floor. He groused at her, but then slowly gave in, clasping her hand and climbing up off the floor in defeat.

"There, now," she said, setting his drill on the counter. "And you come with me. We need to talk, mister."

"Talk?" he said, cocking an eyebrow, and begrudgingly letting her pull him to the living room.

"Yes," she said, leading him by the hand.

"But..."

"No buts. It's time we talked about something," she said, sitting him down on the couch. She sat down on the coffee table across from him. He looked at her blankly.

"Tony," she began, leaning forward on her elbows. She clasped her hands, and looked at him with concern. "I know what this is," she said.

"This?" Tony asked.

"Yes, what you're doing," she said softly.

"What am I doing?" Tony said, shrugging cluelessly.

"You're bored, honey," she said.

"Bored?"

"Yes," Pepper said, sitting back and resting her hands on her thighs. "You've made good on your promise to me about not obsessing over your projects anymore. That much is true. In fact, we both know you've shown an immense amount of restraint. And I'm happy that you want to show me you can function outside of a workshop, but, Tony..." Pepper said. "You're starting to substitute 'shop time', with...with..." she stammered.

"With what, Pep?" Tony said, a hint of defensiveness in his voice. "We both understand how I work! I'm an engineer. I build stuff, and I fix stuff. That's what I know. And we both know that where it gets dangerous is when I'm alone in my shop for hours on end. We've talked about this..."

"Yes, yes, we have," Pepper agreed, trying to keep the conversation helpful and positive. She'd noticed how many more spats she and Tony had got into since he'd stopped working so much. These days it seemed, when his hands weren't busy, he would get more and more irritable and, worst of all, depressed. This morning was the final straw. "But Tony," she said. "I never said you could never work on any new projects ever again! You're actually the one who decided to blow up all of the suits. You're the one who has tried to push away that need to tinker in your shop. But, honestly, it's still there. You know it is, and it's making you restless."

Pepper motioned around them. "Every time I turn around, you're fixing something around the house that wasn't broken in the first place. Why? Because you just can't help yourself."

Tony frowned. "Jesus, Pep. You make me sound like a junkie," he said. "And me blowing up the suits was your Christmas present, might I remind you?" he defended, jabbing a pointer finger in her direction. He shook his head in disappointment. "And here, I thought you'd appreciated the gesture," he said quietly, shrugging.

Pepper leaned forward again, and touched his knee. "I did," she said softly, looking into his eyes. "But I can't pretend to think that you're happy. I know you're not."

Tony furrowed his brow and stood up. "I told you I was done and I'm done, okay? Just forget it." He turned his back on her, and stormed back to the kitchen. Pepper followed. "Maybe I should take up stamp collecting instead, huh?" he said sardonically. "Or build model trains, or start golfing? Whatever I've gotta do to..." He stopped suddenly in his tracks.

Pepper frowned. "Tony?" she said quietly.

He slowly turned around to face her, the color suddenly draining out of his face. His eyes were wide and glassy. "Pep-Pepper?" he gasped, suddenly looking at her with sheer panic. He gripped his chest. He suddenly felt very dizzy, and grasped the back of a kitchen stool for support.

"Tony?!" Pepper said, rushing to his side. "What's wrong?! Tell me! What's happening?!"
He gritted his teeth and groaned in pain, dropping to one knee, his chest heaving rapidly to catch his breath. Pepper dropped with him. She cupped his face in her hands, putting the back of her hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature rise. His skin felt clammy, and his pupils were dilated.

"Heart," he said, gasping. He swallowed hard, looking at her. "Something's wrong with...my heart," he said, struggling to get the words out. He rolled back on his hip to sit down, but quickly laid down, continuing to gasp. He vigorously rubbed his breast bone, his breathing becoming quite labored. His face was tensely grimaced in pain, and he groaned. Pepper braced herself over the top of him, her eyes wide with panic.

"Oh, God!" Pepper cried. "JARVIS! Call the Tower EMT's! Hurry!" she ordered.

"Right away, madam," the AI responded.

Pepper looked back at her boyfriend, helplessly. "Tony! Just hold on! It's going to be okay!" she said, as tears began to form and run down her cheeks. She stroked his face and hair, as beads of sweat formed on his brow. "Oh,God! Where are they?" she cried, to herself. She watched as he began looking more and more fatigued. He tried to keep his eyes focused on her's, but his vision was quickly blurring.

"Don't leave me, Tony! Just hold on! Please! Stay with me!" he heard her say.

Despite his best efforts, Tony couldn't help but close his eyes, hearing Pepper's desperate pleas and the sound of her softly crying before everything went silent.