Thanks to everyone who is reviewing for the continued support! I love you all.

This chapter is much, much fluffier than the others. Because happiness is nice too. : )

Don't own any of it.

IMIMIMIMIM

Of all the unexpected things Tony had done, this had to top the list.

He looked dead serious, something that made him even more adorable considering his disheveled appearance. "Marry me."

She laughed because at first she had nothing to say, laughed because only Tony would say something like that at a time like this. He wasn't used to worry, she knew. That was her almost constant state. She had adjusted. He hadn't had much experience in that area. He looked like he'd been up all night. How long had she been in surgery? She wasn't sure, but she knew the laughter hurt her chest despite a haze of what she was sure was morphine. He smiled, only a little apprehensive.

"The laughing, that's a good sign right? I don't really have much experience with this so I'm not exactly sure. Come on, Pepper. Marry me."

She ran her fingers through his hair again. "Right now? I'm a little bit tied up at the moment. I don't think they'd let me out of here quite yet."

"Come on, Pepper, I'm serious."

He did seem serious. She had never quite expected this. She had given in to his charms, moved in with him because she loved him and she was tired of fighting it. It had been the equivalent of a surrender to the inevitable. He had changed, she knew, and she really was very proud and though she would admit she had imagined it sometimes, she had never really thought he'd grow up enough to decide to marry anyone, even her. Her silence wasn't an answer, and she didn't want him to think it was. She also, however, didn't know what to say.

He shifted next to her, raised up on arm to look down on her from a better angle. "Look, I know my history is still iffy. And I know I'm still an ass. But hear me out. I want this. I mean, I want to be your husband. Really I do. You can trust me."

Trust him. She already did that, though it was against her better judgment. Everything she did with him was against her better judgment. She might as well just get rid of it, be done with judgment entirely. "Yes."

His eyes sparkled. "Yes you trust me or yes you-"

"Yes, I'll marry you."

He grinned, almost the happiest one she'd ever seen on him. That honor still went to the grin she'd gotten when he woke up beside her that first morning, but that was another story. "I'll be a good boy, I promise."

"Don't lie, Tony."

"Fine. But I'll be-"

"You'll be you. And that's alright."



"I love you, Pepper."

"You'd better." She took the edge of what could have been sharp words with a kiss that started gentle. He was hungrier, more desperate than she'd expected and he returned the kiss like a drowning man. She was certain she could feel the hand the cupped her cheek shake, just a little. He had been more frightened that she'd realized. "Hey…I love you too."

He nodded, eyes downcast. "Yeah."

On closer examination, his eyes were redder than lack of sleep ever made them. Oh, Tony… Her chest ached. "Tony…" Her hands framed his face, traced the contours of it. "I'm alright."

He nodded, barely.

She pulled him closer, pressed her lips to his forehead. "I'm alright."

"I'm s-"

She covered his lips gently, stroked them with her thumb once he was quiet. "No. This wasn't your fault, don't you dare apologize. I'm fine. Everything's alright."

Suddenly he was holding her closer, the way he had while she'd slept, his face buried in her neck. It was a little painful, but she didn't have the heart to tell him. His words were soft and muffled. "I thought I'd lost you."

"You'll never lose me."

"Liar."

"Hush." She stroked his back, ran her fingers up and down his spine the way she knew he liked. Ironic, she was the one in the hospital yet he was the one who needed the comforting. Super hero or not, all men were the same deep down. They handled the physical far better than the emotional. A metaphorical shot to the heart left them far more clueless and wounded than some shrapnel buried in their chest. When it became clear he wouldn't have moved if his life depended on it and that he wouldn't loosen his grip of his own accord either she shifted, gently moving her and his death grip to a more comfortable position that put less pressure on her injuries. They'd probably be in to check on her soon, she knew, but until then he could rest. He needed it.

Within moments, they were both asleep.

IMIMIMIMIM

She wasn't sure what she had expected her mother to say when she told her, but the yelling hadn't been expected. Well, maybe it had, deep down. It was just unwanted. She had put the phone on speakerphone and laid it down on the couch cushion beside her, letting the words all run together into a sort of constant, garbled background noise. The longer it went on the more she regretted every time she'd ever told her mother about the girls, the booze, and the nights out on the town. Her mother had used her bizarre mother-senses to pick up on her attraction to him even in those years, and she had filed it all away into some sick sort of album in her head, ready to pull it out when she thought Pepper needed to be reminded just how many women he had been with before her.

Her mom was right about one thing. Even though she knew it, hearing it recited made her a little sick. Hence the speaker phone, and the fact that she was now ignoring her mother and sifting through Tony's inbox. No, Tony didn't want to have a meeting with the Board. The President….well that wasn't a meeting he could exactly turn down.



Her mother hadn't screamed this much when she'd moved it with him. In fact, she had been surprised at her lack of resistance. The answer to that mystery had come today, when her mother had admitted she'd hoped her 'thing' with Tony had been some sort of phase, and that she'd get him out of her system and finally get a new job. She had told her mother that if she'd have known she was thinking that, she could have set her straight from the beginning. Tony wasn't a phase. He was a lifestyle.

Still, she couldn't blame the woman for being upset. Looking back on, it was really too much to expect of her in one day. The combination of "I was in the hospital for a few days but I'm alright now." and "I'm marrying Tony Stark." had just been too much for her to bear without this sort of violent outburst. It really was her fault. She should have called from the hospital to tell her about the shooting. Then maybe her and Tony could have her mother together.

No, that really wasn't a good idea either. Knowing Tony, he would have been about as inappropriate about it as humanly possible. Probably. There was the chance that he would have tried to make a good impression on her mother, but even then he likely would have failed. His attention span for being good was far too short. Not that she minded, most of the time.

She had let her scream until she was finished, then gently told her she wasn't changing her mind, that she loved Tony, and the wedding would be perfectly safe as the military would be overseeing security. She had told her that she was invited, and all the rest of the family, and that if she wanted, she could come and stay with her and Tony for a few days before, to get to know him better.

She began to regret those last words as soon as they left her mouth.

IMIMIMIMIM

Ok….question for you all. so far, this has been just a random collection, but it seems to be taking a bit of a life of its own from the sequence of events following the shooting. So….would you like to see this become the actual story it seems to be attempting to be, or just continue as random pieces? Either way is fine with me, just let me know. I really am enjoying this, though, so I'm glad you guys are too. I LOVE all of your reviews, they make me so happy.