Tony dangles from the roof of the building containing the arc reactor, as he yells at Pepper to push the button that would overload the reactor and blast the roof. He knows the risks: he knows he might not make it, he knows Obadiah might crush him to a pulp before Pepper got to the button, he knows it would work. He struggles to keep hold of the roof as he calls for Pepper.
"Pepper, time to hit the button!" Tony screams down at her, as Obadiah takes shots at him that blast the surrounding glass.
"But you told me not to," Pepper calls back. The Iron Monger aims at Tony.
"Just do it!"
"You'll die!"
"PUSH IT!"
Pepper pushes the master bypass button and turns for the exit; trying to run as fast as her high heels would take her. While Pepper ran, Tony pulls himself up from where he hung and hopefully clear of the explosion. The problem of no helmet was still a minor worry though.
The explosion causes The Iron Monger to get massively electrocuted; Tony could hear Obadiah's pained screams as he watches the power from the arc reactor shoot into the sky. The screaming and cracking of electricity stopped, and Pepper was all Tony could think of as the last bits of glass shattered, and The Iron Monger fell forward into what was the arc reactor. Obadiah's impact on the reactor caused it to blow, and Tony only glances from where he hid as the heat touched his face; shielding it with his arm.
It only took a moment for the blast to destroy almost everything in the vicinity, and not touch Tony. Where he lay on the roof, Tony rolls onto his back; abandoned and too badly hurt to move inside the suit without the assistance of the inside system. The reactor on his chest flickers on and off, on and off, almost like Morse code. He thinks of Pepper as he drifts into darkness, only hoping she would be what he saw when he awoke.
...
Pepper isn't the first thing Tony sees when he is awoken. It's Agent Coulson's face leaning over him. Tony frowns at him and wonders for a moment what's going on, soon remembering Pepper. He tries to sit up, only to have Coulson push him back down. He's on a stretcher. About to be lifted up by a crane; for the obvious reason that it was impossible to carry him inside the suit. Tony grabs Coulson's arm just as he's about to walk away.
"Where's Pepper? Have you seen her?" He asks, showing the obvious worry in his eyes.
Coulson just shakes his head and walks away as Tony's arm drops from his in disappointment. He notices other agents walking around, and asks if any had seen Pepper, his assistant. Tall, red hair, blue eyes, freckles, legs that go on forever.. No matter how much Tony could describe her, the agents would still shake their head no, they had not seen anyone close to that description.
Tony lays calmly on the stretcher, thinking to himself: Pepper is fine, she made it out and is waiting for me. The crane attached to his stretcher begins to lift him off of the roof, and lowers him down. He looks to the left and right, and all he sees are agents for some reason, who he would only assume were the SHIELD clean-up team. He frowns for a moment, and almost becomes immersed in thought about why the Police and Fire Department weren't there as well, but then he sees her.
Pepper. Leaning against a concrete block with a slab of I-beam steel where her torso should have been. As the crane continues to slowly lower Tony to the ground, all he could do was look at her. For being as far from her as he was, he could tell that her eyes were open. Her strikingly beautiful blue eyes, filled with a last feeling of pain and fear. And it was Tony's fault.
The crane reaches the ground and as soon as it does, Tony gets up from it and sprints to Pepper, even though he hears the SHIELD agents calling at him to stop it, get back here, but he can't. He collapses on his knees in front of her and begins to cry for the first time in almost twenty years. He doesn't care if anyone sees him like this, he doesn't care if they hear how obnoxious he sounds when he cries, he doesn't care about anything anymore. Tony looks at her face and can almost feel her fear that he can see, and begins to sob harder into his hands.
He cries there for what feels like hours, even though it was merely seconds before he hears Agent Coulson's voice say softly "Tony, it's time to go." Tony barely nods his head, and looks up at Pepper one last time through blurry, tear filled eyes.
"I'm so sorry," He whispers, as more tears come streaming down his face.
He stands up and turns to face Coulson, still not caring if anyone witnessed his crying. As Tony begins to walk away with Coulson following, he turns to take one final look at what he had destroyed.
...
It's Press Conference day. A word hasn't been spoken to Tony since he was rescued, and he hasn't spoken a word to anyone else either; it seems as though everyone tries to get their point across without using words.
Tony stands in front of a mirror backstage and straightens his tie. Which Pepper would normally be doing. He feels the tears begin to well up in his eyes again, but he wipes his eyes and turns away from the mirror quickly. Agent Coulson walks up to him and hands him a stack of press cards.
"Just stick to the cards and this will all be over soon," he says firmly as Tony accepts the cards and nods. Coulson looks at Tony with sympathy in his eyes for a moment, before walking away. Tony flips through a few of the cards, then Rhodey comes in from a side door to let him know that the reporters are ready. Tony stands up straight and walks towards the stage.
He sticks to the cards. He keeps his identity firmly hidden. If even the thought of him being a Superhero is mentioned, he shuts it down. How can anyone else believe him to be a Superhero, when even he doesn't himself? He couldn't save the only woman he ever loved. He couldn't even tell her he loved her.
You can imagine how it haunts Tony for the rest of his life; every day in the back of his mind knowing that he, his ridiculous suit and tactics, were the cause of death of the love of his life. He doesn't smile anymore, and only a small number of people know the true reason why. The rest speculate on the strange disappearance of Tony Stark's Personal Assistant Virginia "Pepper" Potts. It hurts him just to hear her name. Every mission he goes on reminds him of her.
He never says a single word, ever, about being a Superhero.
...
A/N: It may seem silly to cry over this to some people.. But I bawled like a baby while writing it. If you reviewed and told me if you liked it or not.. That would be awesome.