Hey hey! So this is my first attempt at a Tony Stark story. I've dabbled with Marvel before, but mostly my writing's been done with MacGyver, so let me know what you guys think!
First thing I should say is that this takes place after Iron Man 3, but before AoU. Stark has had the arc reactor removed, but Jarvis is still his AI.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think!
I don't own anything to do with Marvel. A girl can dream though, right? XD
As he let himself be swept away from the large mansion by the large crowds, a smirk spread over Ted Calloway's face. At the end of the driveway, he broke off from the rest of the story-hungry journalists. His car was parked a few blocks away, and when he reached the vehicle, he simply got inside, rolled down his windows, and pulled out his phone as he waited for the minutes to tick by until it was time for him to go back.
0-0-0
"Welcome home, Sir," Jarvis greeted as Tony roared into the garage. The car's engine rumbled as he put it into park. Ever since he'd blown his suits and had his arc reactor removed, Pepper had been trying to convince Tony to live life like a normal billionaire, which mainly meant driving his cars around instead of his suits that she knew he had started rebuilding.
"Hey J. Anything fun happen while I was out?"
"Miss Potts had to threaten to call the authorities on a group of journalists who wouldn't leave," the AI replied, his tone as mild as if he were reporting the weather.
"Why wasn't I notified?" Stark asked as he got out of the car. "How'd they even manage to find this place?"
"You are a public figure, sir. It isn't that hard to find information if one is persistent enough. As journalists usually are."
"Alert Happy," Stark instructed.
"Very good, sir."
Stark put in his earpiece and tapped it, calling Pepper.
"Tony," came the warm but exhausted-sounding voice of his girlfriend.
"Shoulda called," Stark lightly chastised, though his tone was light enough to let Pepper know he was joking.
"I had it handled," she replied.
"I know you did. You're great," he praised.
"Oh, I know. But why don't you get up here and tell me that in person?"
"On my way." Stark grinned as their phone call was disconnected. He was actually kind of excited; they had a quiet evening planned, just a nice dinner for the two of them.
Stark made his way upstairs, taking the steps two at a time until he reached the main floor, where he found Pepper Potts waiting for him.
"Hey there," he greeted.
"Hi," she replied with a soft smile, wrapping her arms around his neck softly and planting a kiss on his lips.
"Mmm. Let's skip dinner."
Pepper pulled away and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "No. I cooked the food, I'm not letting that go to waste."
"It wouldn't go to waste, we could just...eat it later. And wait, you cooked?"
"Why does that surprise you?"
Tony stared at Pepper warily. "Is that a trick question? Is this a trap? I feel like this is a trap."
Pepper rolled her eyes and turned back towards the dining area while Tony walked beside her.
The dining room was softly lit with dimmed lights, casting a nice glow around the room without making it too dark.
"This is all very romantic," Stark commented. "You do this yourself?"
"I have two hands don't I?"
"You do. And they're lovely. Sure you don't wanna just skip—" One look at Pepper's face, and Tony knew his answer. "'Kay. Sounds good. Dinner it is."
They sat down, and Tony looked at the dishes. "Y'know," he commented. "I'm almost expecting these to get up, start dancing and singing or something. Hey Jarvis, nobody's come out with actual moving dinnerware, have they?"
"Sir, as much as I'd love to comment on the logistics of that topic, I'm detecting some sort of electronic pulse. I-"
The AI cut off suddenly, and Stark looked at Pepper in confusion and slight concern. "Jarvis?" the billionaire called out, standing up from his seat. There was no answer.
Pepper watched Tony, and the look she saw on his face worried her. "Tony, what's going on?"
"Listen … do me a favor? Get out of the house, call Rhodes and have him get over here." Tony was walking around and speaking slowly as he tried to figure out what was happening.
"That's not an answer, Tony."
"I know, but right now I just really need you to do this."
Pepper didn't look like she wanted to agree, but she finally stood as well, making her way towards the door as she pulled out her phone.
Tony listened to the click click click of his girlfriend's heels as she walked across the linoleum floor, but suddenly became aware of another sound in between her footsteps, a terrifying tick tick tick. Stark turned with wide eyes, a shout of warning on his lips, but it was too late. The ticking stopped, and there was half a second of silence before the world around them exploded.
0-0-0
When Tony came to, the first thing he became aware of was a loud ringing in his ears, making every sound muted. Stark began pushing himself to his feet, slowing for a split-second as a wave of dizziness hit him. He didn't pause for long though; his desire to find Pepper and make sure she was okay was more pressing than any other physical injury.
He felt something trickling down his forehead, and he reached up to wipe whatever it was away, thinking it was just sweat. When he glanced at his hand though, his fingers was a darker shade than they normally were. He gently probed at his forehead again, wincing as he found the source of the blood.
It wasn't a deep wound though, so once again Tony trekked on, putting his own needs aside until he could find Pepper.
"Jarvis?" Tony coughed out, accidentally inhaling some of the dust floating around in the air. There was no response from the AI. "Jarvis?" When the AI still didn't answer, Tony got a sinking feeling in his gut. He tapped his earpiece, trying to call someone, anyone, but the small piece of technology remained stubbornly silent. The billionaire grunted in frustration.
"Pep?" Tony called out, still trying to cough out the dust in his throat and lungs. It was too dark to see anything. There were times that he really missed having the arc reactor in his chest as a constant source of light. This was one of them. As more and more time passed in the dark and the silence, Stark's chest grew tighter and tighter, and his breaths got shorter as he came closer and closer to a full-on panic attack. "Pepper?" he called out again.
"Here," came the reply finally. Tony's chest loosened and his breath released in a whoosh of air he barely realized he'd been holding as he turned as saw his girlfriend making her way towards him. She looked slightly dazed, and was covered in dust, but from what Tony could see, she didn't have any injuries. Stark began making his way through the rubble, intending to meet Pepper halfway. They reached each other and embraced, then Tony pulled back and began looking her over, fingers brushing her cheeks as he pushed her hair out of her face.
She grabbed his hands gently, stopping his examination. "I'm fine," she insisted. Their eyes met, and she gave him a reassuring expression. "Really," she promised. Her coughing and shaky voice made Tony doubt her words slightly, though he remained silent about those doubts, at least for the time being. Instead, he chose to focus on the fact that they were both alive.
"We're alright," Stark said to the redhead. "We're okay."
"We have to get out of here," Pepper stated, looking around to find the best possible path out.
"Not in those shoes, you can't," Tony pointed out, gesturing to the woman's high heels. She looked down at them as well.
"I'm not walking around barefoot in this," she argued, gesturing to the rubble surrounding them.
"Wasn't saying you should do that." Immediately Stark kicked off his own shoes and scooted them over to Pepper, ignoring her protests. "Just put them on," he insisted. "You're gonna twist an ankle if you try getting through all this with those."
"Tony, I can't."
"Yes, you can. Look, I've already taken them off. Just put them on."
Pepper hesitated another minute before finally nodding. "Okay," she agreed. She kicked off her own heels and slipped into Tony's shoes, which were large on her feet. "What about you?"
"I'll be fine. Believe me, I've dealt with worse," he assured her. Her eyebrows raised in a dubious expression as she crouched down and tightened the laces as much as she could, trying to make sure they wouldn't come off.
Once she was finished, Tony took her hand and the two of them began making their way through the wreckage, doing their best to avoid the glass littering the floor. "Tony, what was that?" Pepper asked as Stark picked their path through the rubble.
"I dunno, some sort of controlled detonation."
"Really?" Pepper drawled. Tony gave her a look that asked her to curb the sarcasm, and she backed down. "Can we call anyone? Rhodey? Natasha? Fury?"
"Already tried," Stark replied, shaking his head. "We were hit with some sort of EMP," he explained. "Fried everything electronic in the house."
"Including the suits?" Pepper asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Tony shook his head.
"No, the suits are fine," he said. "They're built to reboot immediately after a blast like this, so they're good, but-" He held up his arm, where he'd implanted the suit's microchips. "We have to access them manually. The chips are fried. Gonna have to reprogram those now." He cursed softly under his breath and began muttering to himself, working out problems out loud, until Pepper put her hand on his arm.
"Tony?" Pepper asked, drawing the man back to the situation at hand.
"Right. I'm focused."
"Please tell me you put the new suits somewhere other than the basement?" Pepper asked, looking at the debris cluttering the floor. It was going to be a maze to go anywhere, and even harder to get down to the basement.
"That's where they're at," Tony informed her regretfully. Pepper sighed.
"Then I guess we'd better get moving."
Glass and rock littered the ground as the redhead and the billionaire began making their way to the staircase.
"Who do you think did this?" Pepper asked as they navigated their way around a particularly large piece of rubble.
"Toss a rock, I'm sure you'll hit someone with the grudge and ability," Stark replied. His guilt was eating him up alive that once again, Pepper was in danger because of him. And to his knowledge, he hadn't even given their address out to anyone this time.
He was still trying to figure out who and how had attacked his house, lost in thought until Pepper stopped moving and tugged him back.
"Tony," she said slowly. Stark was jerked out of his contemplation and turned to face the situation.
"Oh." The staircase had collapsed about four steps down, leaving a gaping hole in the floor. Jumping was out of the question. Tony turned back to Pepper, who was staring at the missing stairs with a tired expression.
After a moment, Tony squeezed Pepper's hand. "Okay," he said. "I've got an idea."
He led her back the way they came, and since they knew the pathway a little bit, they made it through the wreckage slightly faster as Stark led Pepper over to the elevator. He glanced around and grabbed a piece of metal.
"Tony, the elevators won't work if it was an EMP," Pepper pointed out, wondering if her boyfriend had hit his head harder than he was letting on.
"No, I know." Stark stuck the metal into the elevator door jam and began prying the door open, not bothering to explain his thinking. Once he got it open a few inches, he dropped the metal, put his hands inside, and pushed the door open the rest of the way. Once he was sure the door would stay open, he stuck his head into the shaft.
"Look at that," he said, trying to sound optimistic. He knew Pepper was going to hate what he was about to say. "Elevator's above."
"And that's good because?" Pepper was asking the question, but Tony could hear in her voice that she already knew the answer.
"We just George of the Jungle our way down to the basement," Stark stated. He looked over at Pepper, who had closed her eyes as if that could help her wake up from the nightmare she'd found herself in.
"Hey," Tony said, grabbing her arm and squeezing it gently in support. "We're gonna get down there, we're gonna get the suits, and we're get outta here."
Pepper took in a deep breath, then opened her eyes and nodded. "Okay," she said.
"I'll go first," Tony added.
"Yeah," Pepper agreed. Tony tried to let go of her hand, but Pepper's grip was like a vice. Stark looked back at the woman. She was clearly in shock.
"Hey," he said again, pulling her attention away from the gaping shaft and back to his face. "You're gonna be fine. I'm gonna be right there with you." He placed a quick kiss on her cheek before he turned again to the elevator. Pepper released his hand, and after judging the distance, Tony made the short leap and grabbed onto the cable.
He didn't grab on tight enough though, and he started falling down almost immediately. He felt his heart freeze in his chest for a half second before his hands tightened further. He slid to a halt, wincing as the cables dug into his skin.
"Tony!" Pepper's worried yell reached his ears, and he looked up to see her face peering into the shaft.
"I'm good," he called back, tightening his grip on the cable even more, ignoring the pain coming from his hands. After a few more seconds, Tony looked up.
"Come on," he called to Pepper, who was still standing there, looking hesitant. "I'm right under you. I'll catch you if you fall."
Finally, Pepper copied Tony's movements, though she actually caught the cable the first time around. As she swung into the shaft, the two of them gently rocked back and forth briefly. It was too dark to see much of anything, but Stark could practically feel Pepper shaking through the cable.
"You're doing great, honey," he called up, inching his own way down.
"My hands are sweaty," she called back. "I'm going to slip!"
"You're not gonna slip," he promised. "And even if you do, I'll catch you," he repeated.
"Tony I swear, if you drop me…"
"Babe, I'm not gonna drop you. Promise."
Slowly, the two of them shimmied their way down the elevator cables. About thirty seconds into their descent, Pepper let out a short yell as she started slipping, but she caught herself before she fell. As soon as he heard her cry of alarm, Stark had let go of the cable with one hand and prepared to reach for his girlfriend, but she caught herself before she actually fell. Stark's heart was pounding in his chest, and he could only imagine how fast hers was beating. Thankfully, they wasn't too far to the bottom level, though both of them felt like hours had passed before they finally reached the ground.
Tony's feet hit the floor first, and then he waited until Pepper was right above him before reaching out and grabbing her, helping her get to the ground. Once her feet were firmly planted, Stark gripped her hand firmly again and they began moving in the direction of the room where the suits were kept.
They'd only gone a few yards when Tony heard something rumble and creak above them. He looked up, and his eyes widened as he saw a crack spreading through the ceiling. He knew what was going to happen seconds before it did, and without saying a word, the billionaire simply turned and pushed Pepper out of the way before trying to run himself. However, in taking the time to insure Pepper's safety, he'd sacrificed his own, and the roof came down on top of him.
Tony barely heard Pepper yell his name as he covered his head, trying to make sure it was protected. The rumbling died down and the dust finally settled, and Tony found himself on his back, covered in debris from the waist down. His left leg was partially free of the wreckage, but his right side was completely pinned.
Tony struggled under the weight of the debris, but he froze when he felt a stabbing pain in his thigh. Slowly, he adjusted his position so that he could get a better view, and then he looked down at his leg. He blanched when he saw a large piece of rebar trying to become a permanent part of his anatomy.
"Tony!" Pepper hurried over to her boyfriend. She gently grabbed either side of his head, trying to stabilize him just in case he had a spine or neck injury.
"Pep," he grunted, reaching up and grabbing her wrists, as if to make sure that she was there. "Pep, I'm stuck."
"Tony, your leg," Pepper muttered when she saw the bloody piece of metal.
"We… we can't focus on that right now," Tony panted, even though it was the only thing he was focusing on. "We gotta...get you safe…"
"No, Tony, I'm not leaving you," Pepper insisted, her voice shaking. Tony couldn't tell if it was shaking out of fear, anger, or shock, but he figured it was probably a mix of all of them.
"Okay Pep, listen to me-"
"I'm not leaving you!"
"Pepper, please."
"Tony, don't make me-"
"Pep. It has to be you. You have to go. I can't lift this thing off my leg, and as strong as I know you are, I don't think you can lift it either."
"Tony-"
"The suits are just down the hallway. You've gotta go in and get one, then come back. Please, Pepper. Please."
The last plea from Tony finally had the redhead closing her mouth in resignation. She knew she had to go, but it didn't mean she had to like it.
"I'm coming right back," she promised as she gently lowered his head back to the ground.
"I know."
"I swear, I'll only be gone a few-" The rest of her promise was cut off as she let out a cry of surprise, and suddenly she wasn't at Tony's head anymore. The billionaire tried turning any way he could to see what happened to her, but he had to pause and let out a hiss of pain as he felt something tweak in his back.
"I'd hold still if I were you," a snide voice cautioned. Tony heard Pepper struggling, and he finally managed to get his head upside down to view the situation, even if it was the wrong way up.
"Who...are you?" he panted, not recognizing the man holding Pepper.
"It doesn't matter who I am, because in a few minutes, you'll be dead."
Pepper was struggling against the man's hold, but he squeezed tighter, and she began gasping for air.
"Stop," Stark insisted, starting to reach out for Pepper instinctively. He jostled the rebar in his thigh though, and momentarily saw black. When he made his way back to the land of the living, the man holding Pepper was staring at him with a triumphant look in his eyes.
"This was easier than I thought it would be," he stated. "I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed in you, Tony."
"Welcome to the club," Stark grunted.
The man began walking past the pinned billionaire, dragging Pepper with him.
"Listen," Tony panted, trying to reach out to Pepper as they passed. "Just let her go. We can settle this, I'm sure. But she's got nothing to do with this."
"You're wrong, Mr. Stark. You've both got everything to do with this."
Pepper was scratching at the man's arm around her neck, trying to elicit any sort of reaction from the man to get him to loosen his grip, but nothing seemed to be fazing him.
"Now," the stranger said, reaching into his pocket. "We can't have you following us, so I believe this is where we part ways. I will bid you a good night, sir." He pulled out a small spray can, no bigger than a keychain can of mace. Without further ado, he depressed the nozzle, spraying the contents into Stark's face.
Tony coughed and gagged, and immediately felt lightheaded.
"Be seeing you around, Tony," the man said, tossing the can of mace in the air and catching it one handed while Pepper struggled. Tony looked up with hate in his eyes, still struggling to get out from under the debris pinning him down, but he was stuck fast, and his struggles were getting weaker by the second.
Tony had a small moment of satisfaction when through his hazy vision, he saw Pepper jerk her elbow back into her captor's gut, finally getting him to release her with a wheeze. She jumped away, then turned back with a raised hand to fight him, but he recovered from her attack quickly and brought up the can of whatever he'd drugged Tony with and sprayed it in Pepper's face as well, though not before he palm made solid contact with his cheek. Then the darkness overtook Tony's vision, and he went limp on the floor.
0-0-0
"Come on," the stranger said as Tony stilled on the floor. The man's cheek was stinging from Pepper's slap, but the redhead was already swaying from the contents in the can. However, she was still able to take a step backwards, closer to the unconscious Tony as their attacker advanced. She wasn't aware of her surroundings though, and she stumbled over a piece of brick. She would have fallen right on top of Tony, but the stranger's hand shot out and gripped her wrist, pulling her closer to him. She struggled and hit him in the chest, but just like Tony, her struggles became weaker and weaker, and without any trouble, the stranger easily hoisted her over his shoulder and walked away, leaving Tony stranded, pinned and trapped under a mound of debris.
So...? What do you guys think? Should I keep going? Is this something you guys are interested in? Let me know, and thanks for checking out this first chapter!