Tony Stark was never the praying man. But once when Pepper got hurt because he wasn't there to protect her, he decided that he would give it a shot. She had been in a coma for almost two weeks and he thought couldn't screw it up anymore. So he prayed. He prayed for hours upon hours and ended up falling asleep by her bed. Again.

Bruce came by to check on his patient and Tony later that night and found a dark haired man in an old, dirty trench coat standing over them. He stopped, looked at the man, and just stood there.

"He reminds me of someone." Bruce doesn't know if he should respond. He can't decide if this is real.

"I normally don't do things like this, but he spoke to me. It was so like him that I thought it was." The man lets the corner of his mouth twitch for a split second and then it's gone.

"Who? Who did you think it was? And how did you get in here? Jarvis would have immediately alerted me if someone even came with 300 yards of the building." The strange man did smile this time.

"I didn't come through the door." he said while slowly placing his hand on Pepper's head.

"Wait! What are-"

"Bruce Banner. I know what you are, and I also know that you don't trust easily. But look me in the eye and tell me you don't trust me."

"I-I..." Bruce looks down at Tony, one of the only men who he has ever called a friend. He can see that even in his sleep that he is battling demons. His friend is hurt and no matter what he did, Pepper never even flinched. He was at a loss. There were no more options. "I've never even seen you before. How can I trust you? What are you going to do?"

The strange man look him in the eye and said, "I am going to make it better. That's what I do. My name is Castiel and I am an angel of the Lord. Trust me, Bruce Banner. All will be well again."

Castiel laid his hand on Pepper's hand and closed his eyes. There was a faint glow and it was gone. Suddenly, Pepper's monitors started going crazy. Bruce quickly ran over to her bed, shoving the "angel" out of his way. Tony jolted upright and asked, "What happened? Bruce, what is going on?!"

Bruce didn't answer. He frantically started working on getting Pepper's heart started again.

"What the HELL DID YOU DO?!" he shouted. "She's going into cardiac arrest. TELL ME WHAT YOU DID!"

"Who are you even talking to?" Tony asked in a low voice. "Who is he? What did he look like?"

"He's-"

"I'm standing right here, Tony Stark." Castiel replied his eyes bearing into Tony's.

Tony's head whipped around. He didn't move. His eyes going wide as can be, mouth opening and closing and gasping for air. "Bruce."

"Give me a second, I've almost gotten her stable."

"Bruce."

"Tony hold on."

"BRUCE!"

Bruce stopped immediately and looked up from Pepper. "Yes?" He replied in a whisper.

"Do...how...when did he get here?"

"He was in the room when I came to check on you guys. Why?"

"You can see him, right?" Tony asked, his gaze never straying from the man in the trench coat.

"Of course I can. Tony, are you okay?"

Tony smiled. For the first time in two weeks, Tony Stark had his usual shit eating grin on his face.

"Tony Stark, you called. I'm answering." Castiel said. He slowing started walking towards him. "Do you trust me?"

"Absolutely." He replied without hesitation, his smile still wide.

Castiel turned to Pepper once more and raised his hand over her body. "You two might want to close your eyes." Tony looked at Bruce and they both did as they were asked without hesitation. A light much, much brighter than the one Bruce witnessed was radiating through the room and in a split second it was gone. All was quite.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" a familiar female voice shouted through the room. Bruce and Tony both turned back to the angel and Pepper with wide smiles on their faces.

Tony wasted no time in running back to her side pulling her into a deep kiss. He pulled away and smiled the smile that only Pepper knew. "I missed you so much." He said as a tear ran down his face. Pepper smiled back, "I missed you too." She closed her eyes and pulled him in for another kiss.

"How did you do it?" Bruce asked Castiel, not looking away from his best friend and the woman he called a sister.

Cas smiled, also staring at the couple fondly. "I'm an angel of the Lord."

Bruce looked away from the scene and said, "I heard you when you said it the first time. But how are you even real? How can this be possible?"

"I wasn't supposed to do this but I heard his prayers. He reminded me of a man so like him; heart filled with so much burden, so much anger that it can physically be painful. They both lock it away. Both blame themselves for things they can't control. But both of them love with such abandon even though they won't admit it. I can protect both. I will protect them both."

"He does need someone to protect him." Bruce said with a smile.

Castiel looked back at Tony and Pepper.

Pepper had tears streaming down her face and so did Tony. "Thank you. Thank you so much." he said with tears still flowing.

Castiel nodded and smiled and with a blink of an eye, he was gone.

"Tony, who was that?" Pepper asked.

"He...he's and angel, Pep. He saved me." Tony looked at her and then to Bruce.

Bruce was smiling, "An angel..." he whispered.

"An angel." Tony replied.

Tony Stark was content.