Fire... Fire everywhere...
Where is he?
"Tony!"
"Pepper!" - He shouted - "Pepper where are you?"
"Tony save me!" - She screamed - "I can't hold it anymore!"
And he saw her, hanging dangerously above a sea of fire. He started running. Fire surrounded him, pulled him back by its heat. But he didn't care. All he knew was he had to catch her before it was too late.
"Tony!" - Pepper cried - "I... I can't..." - The rope she was holding was slipping away - "I... can't... Tony... please!"
"Hang on I'm here" - He screamed - "Pepper!"
But it was too late. He watched her fall into the sea of fire, scream his name, and all he could do was just watching...
Because he was too late.
A laugh echoed in the air. It reminded him of the bastard that caused all of this thing. Slowly, he turned around to face the demon.
"I could have caught her" - Killian smirked, and fire blew up...
Tony gasped and opened his eyes. Dark. He couldn't see anything but darkness. He blinked a few times and realized that it was his bedroom. There wasn't no Aldrich Killian or any sea of fire. They were safe. Pepper was safe. She was sleeping peacefully beside him. He allowed himself to take a deep breath and let his fist go. It was just another nightmare, just a nightmare and it was not real. Killian died. Tony told himself so and order his body to relax again.
However, it was easier said than done. After ten minutes of sweating and shaking, Tony decided to get up, not to wake Pepper up because of his nonsense fear. He stepped slightly to the bathroom. Cold water made him quiver, but at least it chased away the nightmare as well as the sleep. Tony stared at a pale sweating version of himself in the mirror. He looked nothing related to the famous playboy billionaire that usually appeared in front of the public. Right now he wasn't Tony Stark or Iron Man. He was just Tony himself.
He slowly made his way to the living room, where he has placed his bar. Somehow he didn't want to turn on the light, so he carefully took each step, not to accidentally break anything as well as wake anybody up. Since the Extremis thing happened, Pepper has agreed that they would move to New York and stay with the Avengers in Stark Tower - which was now known more as Avengers Tower. Although Tony didn't like sharing his privacy, he agreed too. At least the Avengers could keep Pepper safer when he wasn't there with her.
Finally Tony got to the bar. He smiled at himself while pouring a glass of whatever it was. It didn't matter for now, Whiskey or Vodka, he just needed something to bother his mind.
"Pour me a drink, please."
Tony almost dropped the bottle, then he calmed himself down immediately. It was Natasha, the Black Widow. He shouldn't have been surprised. However weird his timetable was, Natasha's was even weirder. She could stay awake for almost a week before shutting down for nearly three days. He slowly turned around to face her.
"Well, Spidey, what a surprise..." - He was just about to start when she cut him off.
"Keep your voice low and pour me a drink" - She threatened him in an extremely low voice that Tony was quite amazed by how he still heard her.
"Okay okay" - He muttered, pouring another glass and bringing all of them to the sofa, where she was sitting. He almost dropped them all when he saw another person lying there.
"What's this?" - He asked in a mockery tone - "Pyjama party?"
"Shut up and give me that damn glass." - Natasha coldly replied. He gave it to her and sit down next to her other side.
"Alright now tell me what's up" - He said - "Don't you tell me you two don't like the king side bed I prepared for you. It must be much more comfortable than this sofa, unless one of you has a weird hobby..."
"Keep your voice low, Stark" - Natasha growled frustratedly. It wasn't until now that he saw how tired and stressful she was.
"Oops... sorry!" - He mumbled. He watched her soft expression while she was running her fingers through the archer's hair. Why did she keep denying her feeling for him? For Tony, it was too obvious. The two must be crazy in love with each other.
Clint suddenly stirred. His arms were shaking and sweating. Natasha held him even more tighter. She whispered something to him. Tony watched them with concern, but he knew he'd better shut up and only help and he was asked to. After a few seconds, Clint finally stopped shaking. He mumbled something which Tony couldn't make out, then fell asleep again. Natasha let out a sigh, she rested his head on her lap. Tony decided to break the silence.
"Natasha?" - He called, she just nodded - "Are you two okay?"
"I'm okay" - She softly replied - "But Clint... he is not... so well."
Tony knew that "not so well" wasn't an exact word to describe Clint's state, but he didn't argue. After the New York invasion, Clint has been blaming himself for what happened, and no one seemed to be able to stop him from doing so, even Natasha. He was struggling really hard to re-associate to everyone. And Tony also knew that Natasha has always been by Clint's side to help him during this time, but the result wasn't as good as expected. He heard that Clint had even asked to leave SHIELD and Avengers once.
He was not so sure about how the archer felt, but be was sure about Natasha. The feeling that someone so important to you might have changed and never come back wasn't new to him, indeed he was still felt it, and it must be what Natasha felt now. Watching her guard for Clint's sleep, Tony smiled. Who knew the cold-hearted Black Widow also had a warm heart?
"Hey," - He called her softly - "He will be alright."
She looked at him and returned his smile.
"I'm sure he will." - She replied stubbornly - "He would be so dead with me if he didn't."
They both chuckled.A comfortable silence fell between them, but no one seemed to break it soon. When the clock hit 3am, Tony stood up and headed to his bedroom. But he stopped when Natasha called.
"Tony," - She hesitated - "I'm sorry." - He looked at her questioningly, had no idea what she was talking about. So she continued - "For the Extremis accident. I'm sorry, I should have been there to help you, both of you. But I wasn't." - She looked down - "If I had been there thing may have changed."
"Don't, Natasha." - Tony said. Honestly he had questioned why no Avengers had come to help him, they were a team that saved the Earth! But now it really didn't bother him, especiall when he knew their reasons. - "It was my business, after all. You got your own business too," - He gestured to Clint - "And I understand, Natasha. I would do the same if I were you."
She nodded thankfully before coming back to her archer. They did really looked like a happy couple, except the truth they were not happy at all. He still didn't get what she meant when she said love was for children.
"And Nat,' - She glared at him (he knew she would) - "Sometimes it's okay to be children"
She smiled, a honest smile that he barely saw at her.
"Thanks, Tony" - She paused - "I think I will take the advice."
He noded and left. Standing in the elevator, he thought about Natasha's endless hope for her archer, to bring him back to the man he used to be, the man she would die for. And he thought about Pepper. She has changed after the Extremis accident, but that didn't mean he stopped loving her. Instead, it made him love her even more. And just like Natasha, Tony hoped one day he would be able to erase the dark cloud in Pepper's eyes and bring back the sparkle that he always admired in her.