"You really do work too hard, you know that, Pep?"

Secretly she'd smiled at those words, keeping her gaze away from her boyfriend and on the work that was balanced on her lap as she tucked her legs underneath her, flicking the page over as she readied her pen: "I don't work too hard, I do the work you constantly refuse to do or forget about or ignore."

"Maybe if you stopped working for five minutes you'd realise I've put the paperwork to good use." Pepper knew that note in his voice all too well, it was how he usually got his own way, or when he was desperately trying to tease her into coming upstairs into his bed.

"If you're naked on the bed again using the paperwork I need you to do for SHIELD for unspeakable things again Tony…" The strawberry-blonde chided, getting up from the sofa anyway and rounding on her partner, scowl set on her lips despite the butterflies that where teasing her stomach. She'd been right; there was her partner in all his glory, grinning at her like the cat that just got the cream. Peppers own cheeks where burning as they tumbled into bed together, just like the night before, and the night before that. She was in love with him, completely crazy and utterly in love with the billionaire that constantly drove her to distraction.

"You can't be serious! No!" Her hands were shaking as she turned away from him, desperately trying not to cry: "I'm not going on my own just because you don't feel like it Stark." This was the other side to their relationship, the arguments, the anger and the frustration and the tears: "You have a responsibility, to me, to this company." Pepper wouldn't look back as she paced the room, wringing her hands and wishing she had something to keep them occupied.

Her partner groaned, turning his back on the woman in the dress that was marching around his lab, she was acting too much like a mother again: "It's nothing important Potts; I know you can cope with it." They were back to using each other's surnames, and refusing to keep eye contact.

"I don't want to." She muttered, looking down at her feet as she stopped in the centre of the lab and pausing for a moment, hoping for him to react to her, surely he'd heard that? To her horror when she glanced around to face him he'd slipped his headphones back on, taking completely no noticed of her yet again. The tears stung as she turned away to leave, that night he'd make it up to her and she knew it. Part of her honestly couldn't blame him for his complete dislike of these meetings, if she had the choice she wouldn't attend either, Pepper would much rather be in his arms again. But this was her job.

Sighing, she turned away from the man at the desk in the office, unable to bring herself to be angry at him for much longer.

She'd make sure he made it up to her tonight.

The meeting was almost boring her to death when she felt her phone go off, vibrating fiercely against her hip as she groped for it, flipping it over to read the message under the table. The name made a smile tug at the corners of her lips, it was from Tony. As annoyed at him as she was over that morning's refusal she'd be lying if it wasn't nice to realise that he was thinking about her.

Off on a mission for SHIELD, nothing exciting. Be in my bed when I get back Pep. I owe you. X

She scowled, the word she was hoping for wasn't there, but of course it wasn't, this was her Tony Stark after all. These missions for Stark had become more and more popular of late, but they never seemed to be anything interesting, it was as if SHIELD didn't trust him again, after all the issues with the Avengers it wasn't exactly surprising. Pocketing her phone again she forced her attention back to her meeting, trying not to think about exactly what those last three words meant.

"Miss Potts." Pepper jumped when she was called on, noticing the horrified expression on the young woman's face as she approached her, holding out the phone in her hand: "I-I think you need to take this." Scrambling to her feet she grabbed for it, bolting from the meeting room as she rammed it to her ear: "Hello?"

The next few minutes made her heart burn, it couldn't be true. The phone call was from the hospital and it was Stark, he was in trouble. What was supposed to be a simple mission had gone horrifically wrong.

He was in hospital.

And he wasn't responding.

Her face went white as she realised exactly what that meant.

Her Antony Stark was in a coma.

Grabbing for her bags she ran for it, hailing the nearest taxi and heading straight for the hospital. He was winding her up; he wasn't exactly a normal human; it was probably just a simple thing of replacing the batteries or something.

All this time later and still he wasn't awake, she'd tried, Bruce had tried, SHIELD had tried, even the Asgardian doctors that Thor had dragged down to earth had tried. But nothing had worked. Pepper knew it, but technically her Tony Stark was being kept alive by the battery in his chest. There was no response and there had been no changes, but she wouldn't give up, they'd find a cure somehow.

"Whatever happens. We'll get through this, we can get through anything, you run Stark Industries and put up with Tony Stark." Pepper knew she'd said it but the words felt like they were coming from somewhere else, somewhere inside her.

Finally she turned the pregnancy test over, not even daring to breathe as she let her gaze fall downwards.

The symbol was exactly what she'd expected it to be.

She was pregnant.

Pepper wanted her legs to give way, wanted to cry and hide her head in her hands and pray that the one person she desperately needed right now would wake up for her. Instead she pulled her thoughts together, her hair back up and slipped the test in her bag, pulling it back over her shoulder before heading out of the bathroom.

She would save the tears until she was at his bedside.