Sad Pepperony headcanon made oneshot? I think yes. I don't hate Pepperony; this was an idea that just begged to be written.
It was a mistake. Tony should have known not to turn his attention from his opponent mid-fight. But he did, and he'd been in a coma for the past two weeks. Doom had managed to find a way to disable the Iron Man suit, including both Jarvis and the repulsors, sending Tony crashing down to the concrete far below. The suit had protected him from most of the damage from his ten story fall, but the helmet wasn't designed for that kind of impact. The SHIELD-employed doctors couldn't tell when he'd wake up, though they assured Pepper that he would, soon. She wanted to believe them.
(But spending so much time around Tony had given Pepper a slightly unhealthy level of wariness when it came to doctors.)
The red-haired woman ran Stark Industries from Tony Stark's bedside, typing at her laptop and keeping watch on her (boss? friend? boyfriend?) and listening idly to the blips of his heart monitor. She became an almost permanent feature in the room, except when Phil (Phil? His first name is 'Agent'.) dragged her away to remind her to eat and drink.
(The irony of having someone remind her of these things instead of her being the one to remind Tony was not lost on Pepper.) And then one day, a small groan came from where Tony lay, and Pepper's head shot up instantly. She saw his head turn slightly as he took in his surroundings, his eyes glazed from a mix of sleep and the drugs that the doctors insisted on giving him for the pain, and Pepper was about to speak up (and say what? How much she had missed him? That she was so relieved that he was okay?) when Tony beat her to it.
It was when Tony's first word upon waking was a questioning mumble of, "Jarvis?" that Pepper Potts realized that as much as she loved Tony, he would never be able to put his whole self into their budding relationship. She would never be his first priority. Pepper Potts was not a jealous woman, but neither did she want to suffer the pain that would inevitably come (for both her and Tony) if things continued the way they were. It was then that Pepper realized their relationship wouldn't, couldn't work.
It was when she told Tony a few days later that she thought their relationship wasn't working out, that she realized she had known the whole time.
Thoughts? Critiques? Feels? Please share.