Disclaimer: Iron Man is the property of Marvel
A/N: Another request from Ls11, not quite sure it's what she wanted, but it's the best I could do.
Sleepless Nights
He's suffocating, drowning, choking on smoke, his chest aches as he fights to force air into his lungs, shuttering when his body jerks him awake from the nightmare. Barely awake the nightmare slips away in a jumbled mess, panic settling in at the pitch-black room, the lack of the blue glow from his body was unsettling. His chest heaves, violently pulling at the stitches, working his battered and bruised ribs, and causing tears to pool in his eyes at the pain. Blindly he throws his hand out across the bed, searching for the warm body that should be next to him, the anxiety increasing when all he finds are empty sheets.
"Pepper," he slurs tiredly, shooting up when he fails to find her. Putting a hand to his chest his body instinctively tenses at the sudden movement, fighting to gain control of his breathing. "Lights," he gasps out eyes squeezed shut fighting against the pain; panic increasing when the lights fail to respond to his command.
"Jarvis?" he calls gasping for breath, stumbling from the bed; it takes his panic stricken brain several moments to remember he's not in one of his homes, but staying in a hotel in China.
"Pepper?" he calls again moving through the room searching for the door.
Fumbling with the knob he rushes through the door frantically searching the different rooms until he finds Pepper. Just seeing her eases his anxiety, but worry replaces it when he sees her ridge figure sitting a chair, staring blankly at the China skyline.
Moving slowly into the room, he proceeds with caution, not entirely sure how to handle the moment. She's his anchor, an ever constant present in his life keeping him sane, but he knows she fraying. He'd like to think the nightmares stopped once he removed the virus; clearly it was nothing more than a foolish hope.
"Hey," he calls out, hoping he sounds stronger to her than he does himself. She jumps slightly at the sound of his voice, though he's grateful for any sign of life in her frozen body, it kills him to watch her struggle, "Sorry."
"Tony," she cries worriedly, walls up as best she can as she pulls herself from her chair. "What's wrong," she can't help but ask, her eyes wondering to the thick bandage at his chest.
"You weren't in bed," he supplies, then snorts and shakes his head at how pathetic it comes out. "Are you okay?" he tries again.
Pepper smiles softly, putting on a brave face; he can tell she's lying before the words even leave her mouth "I'm fine."
"You really should be better at that," he berates her with a small smirk.
Pepper sighs in frustration, she's always been bad liar, "I don't want you to worry."
"You still aren't sleeping," he tells her point-blank, letting her know that despite his own troubles, he's noticed.
"I'll be fine," Pepper pushes. "Now you need to rest," she tells him, trying to heard him back towards the bedroom.
Frustrated Tony stops their forward momentum snatching her wrist a little harder than he probably should, causing her to jump slightly. His expression softens as guilt trickles in at the cracks he sees; the dark bags under her blood-shot eyes, pale skin and blotchy checks, she looks ready to drop at any moment. "I'm sorry," the apology falls heavily from his lips he knows the two words are nowhere near enough to repair all he's done; to fix all the damage he's caused.
"You don't have to apologize Tony." Pepper shakes her head, brushing it off.
"I put you in harms way," Tony huffs out, looking agitated. "And now you can't sleep."
"I can't sleep because some asshole kidnapped me and then tried to kill you," Pepper counters, somehow managing to look intimidating and ready to drop all at once.
"You shouldn't have ended up in that situation to begin with,"
"It was my fault for trusting Maya," Pepper argues back.
"I still should have done more to keep you safe," Tony insists, digging his heels in on the subject.
"Tony—
"You're the most important person to me Pepper."
"I'm going to be fine," Pepper smiles softly, stroking his cheek before pulling him into a careful hug, being mindful of his chest.
"I'm here for you," Tony mumbles, wrapping his arms around her.
"I know," Pepper whispers, pressing a kiss to his cheek before pulling back a little. "Now come on Iron Man," she smiles gently. "Let's get you back to bed."
"No," Tony snorts, pulling back from the hug while Pepper looks on in confusion, about ready to object when he beats her to it. "You're not taking me to bed," he tells her in determination before cracking a small smile, "because I'm taking you to bed."
Pepper smiles, instantly melting into his side when he wraps an arm around her waist, leading the way. "That sounds wonderful."
A/N: Reviews make me smile :)