Title: THE GHOST OF YOU (Part 1/?)

Genre: Drama/angst

Characters: Tony/Pepper

Summary:

After Tony Stark is kidnapped in Afghanistan, Pepper Potts has an epic realisation: she is madly and irrevocably in love with him. And from this love, and her pain - not knowing whether he is still alive or not - a bond is formed between her and her missing boss: she holding it (barely) together in LA, USA, he trying to survive in a dark cave, Afghanistan. Love, with a little dash of magic, can conquer all.

Disclaimer: The characters themselves, except for all and any OCs, are not my property. I am not borrowing them under legal authorisation by concerning parties, like MARVEL, but simply out of fun - there is no profit involved. There WILL be much enjoyment, though.

AN: I just couldn't leave well enough alone. I *had* to write something else. And this seemed like the next best thing, since it's been lying around, inert, in my head. Pepperony has officially taken me over. The song is duly credited, but I did alter it slightly for artistic license purposes. Also posted over at LJ, coming soon to Dreamwidth.

CHAPTER ONE: (I will follow you) into the dark

* * *
Love of mine, I will be close behind,
I'll follow you into the dark.
No blinding light, or tunnels
to gates of white,
just our hands clasped so tight,
waiting for the hint of a spark
- - - - - From Death cab for cutie

He watched with the incredulity that comes from being taken by surprise as the world around him tilted crazily on its axis. The strength with which the air was pushed towards him, ramming into him, knocked him several feet backwards, and for a nanosecond, he felt as though he was flying. His body sailed through the air, limbs propelled forwards, as he flew backwards, eyes instinctively shut.

Then he landed on the ground and all the breath, and coherence were knocked violently out of him. It felt like it took forever for his mind to focus again. His eyes opened slightly, and blinked dazedly, earth and dust still settling around him, on him.
A horrible humming buzzed in his ears, and he cast his gaze around him dazedly, still not fully understanding what had just happened.

Then, the strangest sensation tool over all the attention from his brain – which greedily grabbed hold, trying to gather as much data as possible to process what was happening NOW, rather than what had happened; it was easier, and imperative.

His mind told him there was a fierce burning, or perhaps stabbing, or maybe it was –

Pain.

A warm gush was spreading on his chest. He blinked down at it, his hands coming up to part the folds of his shirt, revealing the dark stain of blood, and the destroyed layer of the Kevlar waistcoat.

Pain.

The mind had become well trained, over thousands of years' worth of evolution, at recognising it, and at dealing with it.
It was too much, too fast. Too … raw.
He seemingly lost all energy in that moment, and his head fell back down onto the ground. The last thing he saw before his eyes shut was the blue, blue sky, not a cloud in sight. His mind forced his body and itself to shut down, in self preservation.
Tony Stark closed his eyes, and knew no more.

Eight thousand miles west in -12hours time zone, she closed her door, a tired but lively smile on her face. Her birthday had been pretty good this year, and she didn't have to be in to the office later on as it was a Saturday.
She hadn't been able to have a lie-in in goodness knew how long. She looked forward to it with giddiness.
Therefore she was chagrined, but not entirely surprised, when her phone began ringing.
Already, it sounded shrill and insistent.

Feeling somewhat annoyed and resigned, Pepper Potts answered her phone.

The least expected person on the planet spoke, his voice unsteady and fraught with tension. As he spoke, Pepper's smile froze on her face, and her body instantly felt rigid, turned to ice.
Her clutch bag slipped out of her nerveless fingers. When it thudded to the floor, her knees took on a life of their own.
They bent and she sagged downwards, sinking until her kneecaps collided painfully with the hard surface of her living room floor. Her throat felt constricted, scrabbling for breath where little oxygen came.
And quite unexpectedly, with the savage force of a state-of-the-art SI missile, Pepper's world crumbled and

… scattered…

into the dark.

Chapter one end.

R&R!