The one shots keep coming. Are we surprised?
To say Pepper was enthusiastic to see him was an understatement.
He'd had to be taken back to base for the doctors to take a look at him, and apparently even unfinished suits of armour are nearly indestructible because the only thing he had wrong with him was a few busted ribs – which he guessed was more from the Green Machine catching him – and so after a long and arduous round of de-briefs, they were all sent home. The structural integrity of Tony's loft had been a tiny bit compromised, and so he was about to head out and find any kind of hotel in the entire city that was still standing when he saw Pepper. A brief thought of 'how the hell did she find this place?' flashed across his mind, but then he reminded himself that if Pepper wanted to know something, she would find it the hell out, and he was about to greet her when she literally threw herself at him, arms and legs koala'd around him which made his groan in pain as his ribs protested.
"Potts, not that I'm not happy to see you-"
"I had a missed call." She mumbled into his neck, and he felt a sudden wetness and realised she was crying. "I missed your call, and you nearly died again, and you actually tried to tell me this time and..." her voice failed her and she simply shook in his arms. Tony frowned, he didn't like crying women in general, but he especially didn't like a crying Pepper.
"Hey, come on, I'm okay aren't I?" he whispered into her ear, rubbing her back. "I mean sure, your knees are probably jabbing my broken ribs into my lungs...I'm kidding!" he regretted his joke when she immediately jumped off him, gasping softly. "I'm sorry, bad timing. But I'm okay, I promise." Pepper didn't look too convinced, but Tony smiled and took her hand, bringing it up to his chest and placing it over his arc. "What does this prove?"
Pepper furrowed her brow, silent tears still pricking her eyes. "That you have a heart?" she asked, referring to the mounted one she'd gotten for him.
"No. Well, kind of." Tony agreed. "It does prove I have a heart, but it's never been mine." He stepped closer and brushed a strand of hair away from her ear. "It's been yours for as long as I can remember, and as long as you have it, I'll be invincible." He said with a smile. "I'll always come back to you."
Pepper swallowed hard and blushed a little, curling her fingers against his chest. "I could have lost you today."
"But you didn't." He insisted. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." She smiled a little at this and Tony bent his head and kissed her softly, resting his forehead against hers when they pulled apart. "Now, come on, I want to talk in further dept about those things you whispered into my ear yesterday, Miss Potts."