Chapter Two:
AN: Thanks to all my lovely reviewers and readers!! So enjoy this next chapter!!
Chapter Two:
Tony adjusted the ice pack against his shoulder as he trudged up the stairs into the main part of his house. It was 3 am in the morning and he had just gotten back from a mission to China to destroy some more Stark weapons that had fallen into the wrong hands. A simple routine mission, nothing out of the ordinary. But the flight home had been killer.
That was when he had decided that he needed to either come up with a better set of flying boots or some kind of jet plane to get him to places faster. No wonder flying was for the birds. Yet he did have to admit that flying helped him clear his mind at times and focus on what really mattered in life, such as his girlfriend.
It had been two wonderful weeks since he had admitted out loud that he loved her and she, shockingly, loved him in return. And since then, nothing had quite been the same in their lives. Well that wasn't entirely true.
Most everything was the same with the exception of stolen kisses, hugs, falling asleep in each other's arms and far less nightmares. Even Tony had noticed something about himself. He was actually content on being committed to a single woman without sleeping with her. That was when he knew that he had it bad for Virginia "Pepper" Potts – because he was taking his time with her and doing things right. But there was no way that he was going to tell her that.
As he walked into the living room, the sight on the couch brought a smile to his face. Pepper lay there, in one of his grungy old t-shirts and a pair of her pj pants, curled up in a blanket, sound asleep. A discarded pizza box lay open on the table, with a quarter of the pizza eaten out of it.
"Jarvis?" he quietly asked.
"Yes sir?" the AI replied just as quietly.
"How long has Pepper been asleep?"
"Almost two hours sir."
'Pity to wake her.' Tony thought looking down at her. She looked so cute, sleeping with her face buried beneath her favorite blanket that she kept over at the house. Instead of moving her to the guest room bed, where she would obviously be more comfortable, Tony decided that there was enough room to sleep next to her on the couch.
He carefully slid onto the couch next to her, careful not to wake her. Thank God, he had gotten that extra large couch last year when he had gotten new furniture at the spur of the moment.
After situating himself comfortably next to her, he placed his head close to hers, wrapped his arms gently around her waist and drifted off to sleep.
"Tony?" Pepper gently said rubbing his back.
"Just a few more minutes, please," he mumbled, turning over and snuggling his shoulder into the soft pillows on the couch.
"I would, but Agent Coulson is here to see you."
"Who let him in?" he mumbled again, still not opening his eyes.
"Jarvis," Pepper said. "Something about being deactivated again if he didn't comply with the agent's wishes. I couldn't understand what Jarvis was talking about."
Tony slowly opened one eye and let it focus on Pepper before opening the other. He could see that she was still wearing what she had fallen asleep in. he knew that it still must be early. "What time is it?"
"Nearly 9 am." a new voice added.
Tony sat up and peered around Pepper's slender frame at Coulson who was standing in the doorframe. "Sorry for the early morning intrusion but this is of the utmost importance."
Tony motioned for Coulson to sit down, while Pepper sat back down next to Tony, who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What do we owe the honor of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s presence this morning?" Tony sarcastically asked.
"The Ten Rings."
"What about them?"
"They've regrouped."
"And this affects me how?"
"According to our intel, their new leader is a man by the name of Dhju." Coulson said handing Tony a file folder.
Tony opened the folder and glanced over the photos that were in the folder. When he got to the last one of a headshot of the new Ten Rings leader, he stopped. Images of Afghanistan and his captivity reverberated through his mind. This man looked exactly like Raza. But he knew that Raza was dead.
"Tony?" Pepper gently asked.
"Hun?" Tony asked coming out of his train of thought as he handed the file folder back to Coulson. "Who is this Dhju? He looks just like Raza."
"You are close. Dhju is Raza's younger brother. Right now things are stable in the region thanks to you taking out those weapons. But we're not sure for how long. If anything else happens, General Fury or myself will be in touch with you," Coulson said standing up.
"Thank you," Pepper said standing up and showing him out, leaving Tony sitting with his thoughts running like wildfire. Images of Pepper, lying in his arms dying, kept flowing in and out of his mind over and over again.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that Pepper had walked back into the living room and sit down next to him, until she gently touched his arm. "Are you ok?"
He turned to look at her, trying to fight back the fear that was building in his chest. But the look of worry on her face caused him to loose his edge. "I'm sacred," he whispered.
"Scared?"
He nodded without looking at her. He suddenly felt so exposed. He had never really told anyone his true feelings before. But then again this was Pepper – his first true girlfriend. "I'm scared that the Ten Rings are going to get a hold of you and then something bad will happen. God, Pepper, I'm a wreck!" he said burying his head in his hands. That was when he felt her arms wrap around him and pull him close to her.
"We all are at times," she said, kissing the top of his head. "It's called being human. Now you know how I feel when you are out saving the world as Iron Man."
Nothing was said between them for a few minutes. Tony realized just how lucky he was to have Pepper in his life and he would be damned if he would fuck it up. That was when he also realized something else.
"Hey Pepper?" he said.
"Yeah."
"I still haven't taken you out on a real date," he said pulling back a bit from her.
She laughed a bit. "That's fine," she said. "I don't care."
"But I do!" he said standing up and helping her up. "Go on and get ready. Since today is Saturday, we're going to spend the entire day out."
"Anything certain that I need to wear, like a ball gown?" she jokingly asked.
"Just comfortable clothes."
She nodded as she turned to leave the living room and headed off towards the guest room, which acted often as her room.