Disclamer: Iron Man belongs to Marvel and Disney
Vegas
She isn't entirely certain what part of her agreed to the events that lead to her and Tony standing in front of a fat Elvis impersonator wearing an Iron Man mask, she only knows that she suggested in a way and Tony talked her into it.
She supposes her mistake had been trying to plan her own wedding along with running a company and dealing with Tony. Tony for his part had suggested a wedding planner, insisting he'd pay for the most obnoxiously high class, detail oriented person they could find. She had brushed him off quickly, the control freak in her insisting she had to plan her own wedding so she would just have to juggle everything at once.
But as it turned out, she couldn't.
For weeks she had been sleeping less than Tony and when she wasn't sleeping, she was constantly worried about one thing or another; the other night had been her breaking point.
She sat on the couch sounded by sea of wedding stuff, books and binders scattered all around, cloth and patterns and even more binders. Her hair sloppily pulled back, eyes blood shot from lack of sleep; the dark bags underneath doing nothing to help. She sits with a notebook, scrawling quickly on the white page, while sipping from her tenth cup of coffee that day.
Tony comes up from his garage, bounding up the stairs quickly, than slows as he enters the living room, looking like a skittish deer as his eyes settle on Pepper. "Hey Pep," He calls out to her.
"Hey," Pepper response robotically, never once looking up from her notebook.
Tony's shoulders slump slightly at her lack of response. "You taken a break yet?" He asks as he move closer, careful not to step on anything she has on the ground.
"No Tony," Pepper bites back a little in irritation. "I don't have time to take a break."
"You need a break."
"I have to plan a wedding for almost 500 people Tony," Pepper snaps as she looks up at him. "Not to mention the press coverage, the food, the venue, whose even going to be in the wedding, when I'm going to have time to try on a dress, the cake, the color scheme, and on top of all of that, run a multi billion dollar company. So tell me Tony, when do I have time to take a break?" Pepper snarls out, while Tony simply stares at her. She instantly feels horrible for yelling at him, while Tony says nothing, only letting her vent. "I'm sorry," she sighs after a moment, rubbing tiredly at her face. "This would be so much easier if we could just elope," she laughs slightly.
"Pack a bag."
Pepper glances up at him without really lifting her head. "What?" she asks deeply confused, her voice strained from exhaustion.
"Pack a bag. Unless you want to get married in that," he gestures with a smirk towards her sweats and tank top.
Pepper gives a chuckle as she lifts her head, "Very funny Tony." When he fails to crack a smile, her grin slips. "I was joking."
"I'm not,"
"We can't elope." Pepper scoffs.
"Give me one reason." He states, looking smug. "And it has to be about you or me."
Pepper sits for moment and finds that a reason for them escapes her. Her thoughts turn to how the board might react, to how her mother will kill them, to the press's response, but she can't think of one reason for them.
Tony grins brightly as he moves past the couch, "Now pack a bag or I'm packing for you."
"Tony," Pepper yells as she fly's up off the couch, carelessly stepping on everything in the process to chase after him. "We can't elope!" She calls after him as she follows him towards the bedroom.
"I still haven't heard a reason," he responds as he begins to remove his shirt.
"Because we can't."
He rounds back on her, dropping his shirt on the floor. "You don't even want all of this. Think about it," he continues before she can interrupt. "No press, no cameras, no expectations, no one judging us, critiquing every little decision you made, no stress, no worries. Just you and me."
Pepper can't help but smile slightly at the image he's painted; a large dramatic wedding had never been her. She wasn't one for all the attention, that was Tony's thing. In that moment, he wins her over temporarily. Later she has a minor freak out in the shower, another while they pack and a third when they finally get in the car. Tony does nothing to hide his amusement as he is forced to remind her this what she wants and they both know it.
The problem is, she's spent the past several years of her life worrying about an image, worrying about every little detail and always having a plan. She likes structure and order; she likes having her feet on the ground and everything under control, while Tony, lives in the sky. He doesn't abide by rules and schedules, he plans as he goes and lives life in the moment.
And when he reeves the engine and peels out of the driveway, she feels like she's flying right along with him.
She's suddenly giddy excitement, something she hasn't felt lately when thinking about the wedding. Tony seems excited as well, if his speed is anything to indicate and the fact that Happy keeps paging them every so often asking him to slow down, because he's making it impossible for him and Rhodey to keep up in the car behind them. Tony begrudgingly slows down, but it isn't long before his speedometer is creeping back up again and Happy's calling.
Between their bickering and the rock music Tony has playing, she manages to fall into a deep sleep.
It doesn't take long for Happy to clear out the first wedding chapel they can find. At first the staff is hardly enthusiastic, but when they learn who their client is and that he's willing to buy out the chapel for an hour they have no problem. Their officiator however, is far more excited.
He darts off in his Elvis costume insisting he must perform the ceremony in an Iron Man one. He returns a moment later with nothing more than a mask informing them they've lost the rest of the costume, so now he's Iron Elvis.
Pepper can't but smile at the last seven hours as she stands in front of Tony, her hands in his and she's never been happier. The moment they are pronounced husband and wife Tony wastes no time kissing her and because it's him, it's hardly a peck. Rhodey and Happy both cheer loudly, letting out several wolf whistles before they break apart.
Pepper gives a large smile as she gasps for air. Tony grins back just as broadly then leans in for another kiss, it's far shorter, only because neither one of them can breath.
After signing the marriage license, they wonder off into the parking lot, both Rhodey and Happy watching to make sure some camera happy fan doesn't charge them as they are doused to neon lighting.
"I give it five minutes," Pepper says with a laugh. "Before our first wedding photo is plastered all over the web. And I'll be pregnant."
"I say two," Tony counters as he reaches into his pocket.
Pepper laughs as they continue to walk "Two?"
"Yep," Tony states confidently as he brings them to a stop. "Give me your hand," he says as he reaches down, grabbing her left hand.
"What are you doing?" Pepper asks in confusion.
"Taking our first wedding photo," he explains while moving her hand up in front of her and folding all the fingers down except for the ring finger. "Keep your hand like that," he tells her as he wraps his right arm around her, holding out his phone in front of them. He then raises his left hand to mimic the pose he's set for her.
"We look like we're flipping people off," Pepper states not nearly as amused as her new husband.
"That's the idea, because no one else will get the first photo," Tony states, looking quite proud of himself; they both know the first photo will gain the most attention. "Now smile."
"I want to see it," Pepper says as she takes the phone from his hand after he's snapped the picture, her face immediately washing over in confusion. "What are you doing with your face?"
"I'm being serious," Tony argues as he takes the phone back.
"Serious? You look miserable. You look like I forced you to marry me."
"That's not what it looks like," Tony snorts as he begins to push buttons on his phone.
"Tony give me the phone," Pepper demands as she makes a grab for it.
Tony moves quickly out of her way "No way, I'm posting it."
"Don't you dare, do you have any idea what the press is going to say?"
"That it's awesome!" Tony insists as he moves around trying to stay out of Pepper's reach.
"Give me the phone Tony," Pepper demands again as she marches after him. "Give me the phone…"
"Wow," Happy sighs in fake surprise "They made it a whole five minutes as a married couple before having a fight."
Rhodey chuckles beside him as they watch Pepper chase Tony around the parking lot. "Yeah, they're going to be just fine."
A/N: So I drew the picture that is referenced in this fic, based on a pic Gwyneth Paltrow posted on Twitter. If anyone wants to check it out, terez89 . deviantart art/ Vegas2-5-367731338?q=gallery%3Aterez89&qo=0
