Sleepless Night
Pepper couldn't sleep.
Her brow furrowed slightly as she glared determinately at the ceiling, waiting for her mind to stop running at 300 miles an hour so she could finally get some rest.
No luck.
She looked over to her bedside table, the ghostly blue light from glass tablet shining out 2:14 am.
She tried to fight back the onslaught of new thoughts, panicking that she had a meeting in just five hours. But it's not like this was a first for her.
Pepper had been struggling to get to sleep for the last few nights. Every time she drifted away, she was bombarded with images of Tony. Tony hurt, paralysed, lying alone in the dark and struggling for breath as the pieces of his metal suit fell off, exposing tortured red flesh. And then she woke up.
She clenched her eyes shut and squeezed the ridge of her nose as the memories of her dreams came flooding back. Tony was fine, she repeated to herself, he could take care of himself; he even has a whole team of very muscly people by his side in case he does do something stupid. So the one thing she should definitely stop doing, is worrying.
This wasn't going to work. She's never going to get to sleep.
Pepper threw back her covers and sat up on the edge of her bed. Taking in a deep breath she stared into the darkness as the moon cast a pale shadow on the wall.
Well, if she wasn't going to get any sleep, she may as well do some work.
She was about to lift herself off from the bed when she heard a faint sound coming from the next room. Curious, she stood up and edged towards the door. She could have sworn it was just her insomnia making her paranoid, but still she cautiously put her hand to the bedroom door and slowly opened it, carefully peeking her head through into the darkness.
There was another rustle, and then a soft thud and a muffled curse as Pepper looked around to see a black figure moving in the shadows.
"Tony?" She felt the familiar name come to her lips.
She heard a soft grunt and she quickly flicked on the lights. In the middle of her living room, beside her coffee table, clutching his shin, was Tony Stark. Wincing in pain he looked up and gave a small smile. "Hey Pepper."
Pepper was still struck in surprise, standing in the middle of her doorway. "What are you doing here?"
Tony finally stood up straight, gingerly putting weight on his leg "I thought I'd drop round to say hi."
"At two in the morning?"
"What? Don't you miss me?"
"Of course I miss you." The words hurtled out of her mouth before she had time to think. A smug smile started to form on his lips as Pepper tried to back track. "But that's not the point…"
"No, I think it is." Tony began to move slowly towards her.
"The point is…"
"You miss me?"
"…you're supposed to be with Shield."
"I got a few minutes free."
"To break into my apartment in the middle of the night?"
"I wanted to see what you were wearing."
"Silk tank and shorts. Sorry to disappoint."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Tony raised his eyebrow cheekily, and then before she could reply, he quickly closed the gap between them and gave her a soft kiss. He hummed softly as he moved his face back an inch to look in to her eyes. "How expensive is your rug?"
Pepper took a moment to recover from the stolen kiss before she registered the question and her eyes shot open. "What?"
"I may have spilt something on it." Tony started cautiously.
She quickly manoeuvred around him and peered to the other side of the coffee table where he had been standing. There, splayed across her designer rug, was a mess of flowers, lying in a damp puddle of water that leaked out of an overturned vase.
"Surprise!" Tony boasted.
She could feel an irrepressible smile rise up inside her. "You bought me flowers?" She turned to him, disbelievingly.
"Not exactly 'bought'…" He started, seeing his entrance. "Let's just say Stark Industries owes the Central Park Trust a generous donation."
"I'll call them tomorrow, shall I?" Pepper raised her eyebrow playfully as the ridiculous image of Tony Stark rummaging around in the quiet flower gardens of New York flashed in her mind.
"I'd call them myself, but you know, I'm kind of busy saving the world and all."
"An important job."
"A very important job. But I'm willing to give it up for the chance of a kiss from my girl." He smiled smugly as he clasped his hands behind his back and moved closer.
"Really?" Pepper asked mockingly as she tried to stifle a smile.
"My one weakness. Admit it; I'm just an amazing Super Boyfriend."
"You're not a 'Super Boyfriend'."
"You're not going to thank me for the flowers?"
"What, the ones lying on my vintage rug?"
"It's the thought that counts."
"You had a thought?"
"I believe it was 'why oh why am I hanging out with these pompous man-childs when I should be with a red head instead.' "
"Tony…"
"Any red head would do, to be honest." He joked, finding it hard to completely let go of his mask, when he looked back at her and his eyes turned serious. "As… strange… as it may sound coming from someone like me… I miss you Pepper."
"Don't take it personally, but I miss you too." She gave a soft smile.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
She studied his face as it seemed he was struggling with something inside but did not know how to express it.
"You're doing the right thing, Tony." She offered.
She watched as he looked away, digesting her words, then looked back to her with a small, honest smile. "Thanks Pep."
"Now get out of here before Shield finds you've escaped."
"They won't find me."
"They're smarter than you think. And as much as I like Agent Coulson I don't want him seeing me in my pyjamas."
"I feel so privileged."
"Well that privileged will be revoked if you don't go back to Shield now."
"Don't you want me anymore?" Tony feigned hurt.
"Of course I – " Pepper cut short when she saw the smirk on his face as she almost fell into his trap. "Shut up."
"I feel so unappreciated. I'm a good catch, you know: smart, handsome, heroic, iconic…"
"Modest?"
"Not if I can help it."
He moved in closer as she rested her hand to his chest, lightly fingering the fabric of his ratty t-shirt. "I don't want you to promise because you can't…. but just… take care of yourself, OK?"
"I won't promise." He gave a smile in agreement then leaned in for a kiss. Small and light - now was not the time to go for a farewell kiss. They had time, they told themselves. Time for more, time for deeper.
He moved away and she let go of his shirt. "Thanks for the flowers Tony."
"I think they make a nice addition to the floor." He smirked as he backed away.
"Get out."
"As you wish Miss Potts." He gave a final charming smile then opened her apartment door and was gone.
Pepper stood alone in her apartment, her hands coming up to hug her sides as she suddenly felt a cold chill race through her.
Back to reality.
Pepper slept like a log the night after the final battle. It was the first time she was able to have a proper sleep in weeks. The world was safe now. He was safe. For Now.
She gave a relieved sigh as she woke up, then threw back her covers, padded over to the door and began to open it as a small yawn rose up inside her.
The breath caught in her throat.
There, sleeping precariously across her couch in the middle of her living room, was Tony Stark, a quiet snore escaping from his open mouth. While all around him, covering every single inch of floor, were flowers. Hundreds of flowers, some still clumped together, some still attached to their dirt-clumped roots and all obviously not acquired legally.
Pepper looked back down at the snoring man and gave a radiant smile.
The Central Park Trust was going to kill him.
NB:
Yay! Flowers everywhere! Flowers for you, and for you! Considering that I'm not the biggest fan of the whole 'flower giving' thing (that's right – I'm actually the Grinch!), I'm surprised how many damn flowers I put up with in this fic.
But enough of horticulture – this is just another fic of my self titled "Slices of Pepperony" to get me through the dire wait till the Avengers, so I hope it can help you too. We hopeless fans have to support each other. So to keep my spirits up and keep my muse running, a review would be amazing. More than amazing, a review would be Godly. Would be Thor-ly, as it were. Or is he a demi god? ….
But enough chit chat. Review and you shall be worthy of the Hammer of My Olde Tool Box in My Shed. It's basic but… it hammers… things.
Ciao!