Pepper held Tony's head as he vomited into the basin. She could scarcely believe he was allowing her to see him like this, although, he hadn't really had much of a choice in the matter. He'd fallen ill shortly after they arrived home from the disaster area that had been Stark Expo, muttering something about palladium, chlorophyll and the suit.
He was barely able to remain standing while robotic arms removed his armor. The shop was silent save for his own labored breathing, and the high pitched whir of gears as the arms struggled to compensate for his erratic swaying. As usual, he'd attempted to dissuade her concern with try-hard bravado, brushing the tremors off as a post-battle adrenaline crash. She knew better. After being under the employ of Mr. Stark for nearly a decade, she knew of two modes that Tony operated in: Fine, and pretending to be fine. Right now, he was pretending to be fine-- badly.
Having seen it many times before, she knew that this act was more for his own dignity than anything else. She knew how badly he hated being dependent on others in that way, especially her, so this song and dance was important to him. Quietly ignoring his attempts to push her away, she guided him upstairs to his suite. He stumbled on the stairs, leaning heavily into her, "Pep..." he muttered into her ear, "... thanks."
"Of course, Boss," she replied gently, tightening her grip around his waist, eliciting a grimace of pain from Tony, which disappeared as quickly as it had come. She pretended not to notice, but made a mental note to check for broken ribs later.
"Don't call me boss..." he slurred.
"Ok, sir." said Pepper.
"Don't call me sir, Pep!" he wheezed, clearly agitated with her.
She blushed, remembering the rooftop kiss they'd shared only hours ago, "Ok, Tony," she smirked, savoring the feel of his name on her lips.
He'd let it slip on the phone that he was sick, dying, even. On the trip back to Malibu, he'd told her a little bit about the palladium, and how he'd finally found a replacement. Now her was heavy with worry for him.
She of course knew what palladium was, and that it powered the small arc reactor that kept him alive. But she had never suspected that it would leach into his body, that it had been killing him. Neither had he, not until it was almost too late. Even though he'd found a palladium-alternative to power the arc reactor, he had some pretty serious heavy-metal detox ahead of him. He wasn't out of the woods yet.
She heard a soft groan as his head sagged in her arms, signaling that this latest spell had finally ended. "Tony?" she spoke softly, brushing back sweat-dampened locks of dark hair from his forehead, "Can I get you anything?"
"A new body?" he quipped, ever the smartass.
"No..." she scolded gently, "I meant-- water, tylenol?"
"Morphine?" he shot back.
"Sorry, fresh out." she retorted, not much in the mood to play games with him.
"Pep... everything aches. God..." he whined.
"I know, Tony. I'm sorry." she bent to kiss his forehead, "I'm going to get you something to drink, and some pain meds," she turned to leave.
"Owwww..." his face contorted in pain as he clutched his stomach. Pepper was at his side in an instant, rubbing his back in a gesture of support, "Cramps?"
He nodded vaguely, "Yeah... shit." he cursed, "Worst hangover ever."
After what seemed like minutes, the cramps eased off, the tension lines in his face subsiding with them.
"I'll be right back," said Pepper.
Tony was left alone with his thoughts. Right now, he was scared. Would never admit it to anyone, but he was terrified of dying.