Peppers recovery was hard, Tony was by her side every day and night. He tried to protect her all the time, but the nightmares were a difficult task. Pepper woke up nearly every night, screaming like somebody wants to burn her alive. But one night it was even worse. She was lying on top of him and he had his arms wrapped around her when she suddenly started to scream.
"NO! NO! PLEASE LET ME GO! NOOOO!" He sat up and held her close to him, but she was still asleep and oviously thought he wanted to harm her.
"Pepper, It's me, it's Tony... You are gonna be alright... I don't let someone harm you..."
"NO! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, STOP LYING TO ME YOU DAMN BASTARD, LET ME GO!"
She didn't recognize it was him. He tried to calm her down, held her shaking body close to his chest, but she didn't wake up. "PEPPER, LISTEN TO ME! JUST WAKE UP, EVERYTHING IS FINE!" He didn't have any Idea how to soothe her, so he called for a nurse and she gave Pepper a sedative. Her body grew limp in his arms and he laid down again, she cuddled up in his side softly mumbling. He pressed a soft kiss to her neck and his arms around her waist pulled her closer.
The next morning he called for Pepper's Doctor. She was still asleep, and the sedative would last a few more hours.
"Doc... I... I don't know what to do... I'm not strong enough for both of us..."
The Doctor nodded and said: "Go and take rest, Mr. Stark, she'll sleep for at least 1 hour... You need it!"
Tony nodded, sat up and left the room. He went straight to the coffee machine as a brunette woman ran into him.
"Sorry, I'm sorry..."
Tony looked up at her, recognizing her now completely wet with coffee t-shirt.
"No, I'm sorry, damn this stuff is hot, isn't it?", he asked her and then guided her into a nearby room and shut the door. "You need to get rid of this shirt", he said and looked for a dry doctor's-shirt in the drawer. He found one and gave it to her, but she didn't put it on. She just stared at him. "You're Tony Stark?!"
Tony immediatly knew what she wanted and he had to be strong to didn't do it. It had been such relax and he was sure this woman hadn't screamed when he was touching her. But he knew he had to be strong, he had... The woman obviously had decided that Tony was thinking too much and threw herself on him, pinning him on the floor.
"Come on, you know you want to..." She purred in his ear and leaned in for a kiss as Tony pushed her back and stood up glaring at her.
"Sorry Ma'am", he said. "I just wanted to be nice and help you. I'm not somebody you can fuck like you want to..."
He left the room, nearly running back to Peppers room. She was awake when he came in and he softly smiled at her, till he saw the tears on her cheeks. "Honey... Hey, what happened?"
He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her in his lap. "I...I didn't know where you have been... And I was afraid you were going to leave..."
"Pepper..." He pushed her back softly to force her to look in his eyes. "You know that I love you... I know this is a hard time, but I'll put you through this. I promise..."
"No, Tony... I know this is too much for you, I know I shouldn't be so weak..."
It break Tony's heart that she thought it was her fault. "Pepper... Baby, I... This is not your fault... What this guy did... He... I want to protect you, Peps... And I don't want you to blame yourself... please... I know this is hard for you, but I'll be always by your side... I love you, Peps... remember that..."
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-2 weeks later-
Pepper could go home, even though Tony had protested... justily...
He found her after a mission he couldn't had refused, even though he had discussed with Fury for nearly 3 hours, on the balcony with just her night gown and an empty pill box in her hand. No... "Pepper, PEPPER!" He took her in his arms and brought her inside to wrapped her in a blanket. "JARVIS, CALL 911! Pepper... Honey, please don't do this to me..."
She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't; was this heaven? But she was sure that she wouldn't hear someone crying in heaven. Her ears felt dull and she couldn't hear all the words spoken around her.
"Don't worry... get through... coma... be fine..."
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Tony sat at Peppers side during the days and talked to her all the time.
"I'm so sorry, Pep... I shouldn left you, I'm so sorry... The Doctor said you will be okay again... Pepper I don't know what to do... I want to protect you, but you have to talk to me... Where is my strong Pepper? Where is the woman who knows she can come to me when she have problems? I miss you, Pep... I know this is not your fault, I know this isn't the fault of everyone around here... But please let me help you! I love you, I need you more than anything in my life... Why have you done this Pep? I know we can stand this, we can make you feel better again... but... you have to talk to me Pep, please. Don't hide something, just tell me. I would do anything to help you..."
