This is just something I wanted to write :) Nothing too sad, just a little Iron Man 1 inspired piece...
Tony Stark was her boss, the man who employed her and gave her the chance to be so much more than just another face in accounts. He was the man who saw her and saw potential when she was certain she'd really go nowhere further than the uninteresting floor where they crunched numbers and filed away reports for Stark Industries.
He was the one who brought her right up to the top, right beside him, his right hand. She worked for him, beside him and with him, he wasn't just her boss, he was her friend.
'I don't have anyone but you.' He said definitively and she could have sworn that the usual warmth in his eyes was raging with fiery passion, he had meant it.
She remembered bowing her head when instead she wanted to run to him and throw her arms around him and say that she felt the same and he wasn't alone, but instead she stood right where she was and meekly told him the same thing.
That memory haunted her every day. The look in his eyes showing his desperation to claw away the name he'd made for himself, The Merchant of Death. No, he wasn't that anymore, she knew it before he did.
When he stepped off that plane the Tony Stark that she had last seen was gone, this Tony Stark was haunted, broken but also full of passion to make a change, a difference in the world and himself.
She closed her eyes bringing herself back to the present.
'Potts,' she heard him call from somewhere under one of the many cars in his garage.
'Mr Stark.' She replied with a hint of a smile in her voice.
'Pass me that rag please.' He stuck his hand out from under the Hot-rod and Pepper dropped it down to him.
'Will you be attending the meeting with the interns today or will you not?' She asked glancing down at her tablet trying really hard to pretend his presence didn't have the effect on her that it did.
Tony quietly rolled out from under the car and grinned up at her, 'not.'
She rolled her eyes and nodded, 'why am I not surprised?' She smiled softly and turned to leave, 'I'll give you a run down when I get back,' she added, 'and Jarvis, make sure he eats.'
Tony smiled before pulling himself back under the car.
Pepper took the first twenty minutes of the meeting with the interns introducing herself, the company policies and a brief overview of Stark Industries history, what she didn't anticipate was a sudden guest appearance by Tony Stark himself. Luckily the surprise was welcomed with open arms by the interns who looked like they'd just met the greatest superstar on earth, and in most of their opinions Tony was the greatest superstar on earth.
She fought the urge to roll her eyes and instead allowed him to introduce himself, shake their hands and even sign some quick autographs for the few who were really star struck.
Once he was done revelling in his own glory he quickly made eye contact with Pepper and gave her a smile. She immediately noticed the hesitation if only for a split second.
That wasn't the genuine smile he gave her that was the press smile. The smile that said "there was something going on and I need you now".
'Might I have a few moments of your time, Miss Potts?' He spoke with the same usual press conference tone.
'Of course Mr Stark,' she smiled at him, a million thoughts rushing through her head, she curtly turned to the interns and smiled, 'let's take lunch, and we'll meet back at two.'
They nodded and quickly filed out one after another quickly taking their opportunities to shake and Tony's hand on their way out.
Once they'd all left Tony closed the door and stood with his back to Pepper.
'What's going on?' She asked noticing his tense posture.
He let out a long breath and turned back to her stuffing his hands into his pockets avoiding her eyes.
'I wasn't alone,' he said quietly shifting uncomfortably in his spot.
Pepper knew this agitated version of Tony, she'd seen it on multiple occasions, usually when he had to deal with Justin Hammer, his company and the US Military trying to pry more information out of him about Iron Man and the Arc Reactor technology. All those things made him uncomfortable, that's what they had in common so whatever he was trying to tell her was bad, and then it came to her…
It took Pepper a good few seconds for her brain to piece together what he was trying to say.
'In Afghanistan, in the cave,' he waved his hand nonchalantly, 'there was a man, he did this,' he tapped the reactor in his chest.
Pepper's heart raced and she had to suck in a deep, shaky breath to keep from shaking. She knew how long he'd been holding everything that happened close to him without any sign he would ever let anyone in, and here he was, talking to her about it.
She quietly slid down into the nearest chair and looked at him without breaking eye contact.
'He made the Arc Reactor?' She whispered.
Tony shook his head, 'no, I made this, he…' he swallowed hard and ran his hand through his hair, 'he installed the electromagnet, it was attached to a car battery, I did this when I…well when I could get up on my own.'
Pepper looked at him in stunned silence nodding slowly encouraging him to go on.
'He was a good man,' he said turning his back to her again, 'Yinsen, that was his name,' he said softly over his shoulder.
So many things ran through her head, she had no idea, she had no idea he had anyone there with him let alone what happened to him. She knew he had nightmares about it, she knew when she saw him crying in his sleep, yelling and shouting for the pain to stop, for them not to hurt her. God. He thought about her while he was there. She quickly wiped away whatever evidence she gave away of her own tears and looked at him.
He was there, but the faraway look in his eyes when he turned to face her said infinitely more than his words ever could. He was broken, absolutely and hopelessly.
'When they brought me in, I had been hit by one of my shrapnel grenades, felt it in my heart,' he said pinching the bridge of his nose, 'would have bled out and died within minutes but they had other ideas,' he explained quietly, but the anger was easily detectable in his voice, 'Yinsen operated, removed whatever he could, and you know the rest.'
'You were awake…' Pepper breathed suddenly feeling anger and understanding washing over her, the dreams, the pain…
He nodded, 'guess they didn't believe in anaesthetic.'
'God,' she whispered.
'Weeks went by without proper food, water, anything normal I guess,' he said quietly, 'then they started the torture, and that lasted about a month before I gave in.'
'Tony…' she began but he walked over to her, sat down and took her hands in his.
'I didn't come here to get your sympathy,' he said softly, those brown eyes burning through her, sending all her senses alight, 'Pep, I'm here because I needed to tell you that you saved me, every day there,' he let out a soft laugh, 'without you I would have died during the surgery, I would have drowned during their torture, hell I would have died in the desert when I finally got out and crashed the Mark 1.'
Pepper squeezed his hand just feeling the overwhelming rush of emotions flowing through her, she didn't even know what to say.
Tony bowed his head dropping his gaze from her, 'I know I've got nothing to give you Pep, at all,' he clarified, 'I'm a mess, a barely functioning mess, but I needed you to know,' he said softly.
He got up and planted a kiss on her forehead and smiled.
'Tony,' Pepper said finally, 'wait, just…' she tried to compose herself, what? What was she going to tell him? She had no idea whether this was the right time, or if ever there would be.
'You don't need to say anything,' he said stopping her in her thoughts.
She reached him before he could open the door, 'I want to, Tony.'
He dropped his hand and paused.
'When you were gone I slept in your bed,' she confessed and immediately looked down avoiding his eyes, 'Jarvis had no information, Rhodey had nothing when they pulled their search out, I was lost, I couldn't function knowing that you were out there alone, scared, hurt, I cried every night,' she pulled back shaking her head and walked over to the chair and sat down again, 'I couldn't let you go Tony.'
He quickly followed her and sat down beside her pulling his chair closer to hers.
'I couldn't let you go,' she repeated shrugging with a shake of her head.
Tony cupped her cheek in his hand and gently moved her face so that she was finally looking at him, and when her eyes finally locked on to his all the emotion she was holding just exploded. Tears upon tears rushed out of her eyes all she wanted to do, all she ever wanted to do was hold him. He pulled her against him and held her as she fell apart in his arms.
'It's ok,' he whispered in her ear burying his face in her hair.
Pepper laughed softly, 'I should be saying that to you.'
He replied with a laugh which genuinely touched his voice, 'I know, but if you're ok, I'm ok.'
Pepper finally pulled back shyly and looked up at him, his smiling face met hers, he gently cupped her cheek wiping her tears with his thumb.
'I won't ever let you down, I promise you that Pepper.' He said with an urgency she'd never heard before.
She didn't even get a chance to form her reply before he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers and that was the moment Pepper Potts had waited for since Tony Stark left and Iron Man returned.
Bleh...wasn't that great, I know, but hey...just wanted to get it out there. Let me know, don't let me know...whatever suits :)