Pepper fell back asleep instantly after a round with Tony and she looked as if she were in a peaceful sleep unlike Tony. It had been about an two and a half hours after they fell asleep when Tony began thrashing around the bed and hit Pepper on the leg on accident. Pepper immediately woke up, but Tony was still having a nightmare. Pepper ordered Jarvis to turn the lights to dim and she looked down at Tony. He was all sweaty and breathing shallow.
"Tony, Tony wake up!" Pepper said and when he wouldn't wake, Pepper lightly slapped him on the face and he woke. Tony immediately sat up breathing fast and looked distraught. Pepper climbed up onto Tony and straddled him while taking his face in her hands. "Look at me, shh…" Pepper whispered and put her forehead on Tony's. Tony's arms went around her and his eyes closed again. Pepper ran a hand down his back to sooth him and helps him relax.
"Water…" Tony said with a hoarse voice, barely a voice. Pepper jumped out of bed and grabbed her robe before racing out to get him a glass of water. She just finished tying the knot when she reached the living area where the team was along with two new women. Pepper didn't even realize it was almost seven and she paid no attention to the eyes watching her race to the kitchen area to get a glass of water. She grabbed a glass and filled it up quickly.
"Miss. Potts, it appears Mr. Stark's blood pressure is rising again." Jarvis informed. Pepper turned the sink off and headed back to the bedroom with the glass and completely ignored Clint as she ran by.
"What is going on?" Clint asked. Pepper ignored him and raced back to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Everybody had confused looks on their faces.
"That was odd." Steve states. Bruce nods in agreement. The woman next to him speaks up,
"Who was that?" Betty asks.
"Pepper Potts," Natasha answers. "Tony Stark's girlfriend."
"Should we go see if the maiden needs any assistance?" Thor asks. Bruce shakes his head.
"Whatever is going on I can promise you Pepper is the only one he wants around."
Back in the bedroom, Pepper manages to get Tony relaxed and breathing normally again and he settles his head onto her chest, but doesn't fall back asleep.
"Same thing?" Pepper asks softly while running a hand through his hair. Tony nods. "Better than the last time or worse?"
"Worse…" he says quietly. "Please don't ever leave me Pepper, please." Tony pleads. Pepper fights back the tears and kisses his head lovingly. She hated seeing Tony like this.
"I promise I won't leave you, Tony."
Ever since the Battle of New York, every once or twice a week Tony will have a nightmare either about the battle ending differently or Pepper being taken away from him. After every nightmare, Pepper would comfort him until he fell back asleep. She wouldn't let him go bury the feelings in the workshop.
"Nothing's been the same since New York…" Tony says. Pepper looks down at him and watches him speak as he just stares out into the open. "You experience things… and then they're over. I can't sleep and when I do I have nightmares. Honestly, there are one hundred people who want to kill me. I hope I can protect the one thing I can't live without…"
Tony turns in Pepper's arms and kisses her softly while a hand finds her abdomen. There is a clear bump there now and he strokes it gently. Pepper curls her fingers in his hair and kisses back. This wasn't a kiss to lead anywhere. It was a kiss filled with love and comfort.
"You're stronger than them all, Tony," Pepper whispers once they break apart. "And you have just as strong friends ready to help you fight any battle."
Tony groaned. He had forgotten about the others in the living room. However, Pepper has a point.
"Did they see you?" Tony sighs. Pepper nods and answers,
"Jarvis… he spoke as well. I think it was Barton who asked me what was going on," Tony groans again and moves away from Pepper. He swings his feet over the side of the bed and Pepper wraps her arms around him from behind. "You're not weak, Tony. They don't see you as weak either. If they're smart they won't mention anything."
She kissed his cheek and then got out of bed to change. Tony watches her change and then stands up to change himself. He had a long day ahead of him.
Luckily, the team is smart and mentions nothing of what happened earlier that morning when Tony and Pepper appear. Thor introduces Jane and Bruce introduces Betty. Breakfast was made and they ate mostly in silence. Afterwards, everybody gathered in the living area, including Betty, Jane, and Pepper.
"We may have a lead that Natasha discovered last night." Clint says and looks at Natasha. Natasha nods.
"Do any of you know of a man named… well he is called the Mandarin… ring any bells?"
Everybody shook his or her heads.
"We believe he is plotting a plan against us with Loki." Thor claims.
"Great, so two lunatics out there?" Bruce mumbles.
"Well… based on Natasha's mole in S.H.I. ," Steve says and they all look at him. "Mandarin is only after Stark."
Tony rolled his eyes and felt Pepper take his hand and squeeze it a bit. "Even better."
"Do we have any idea as to their whereabouts?" Pepper asks. Thor shakes his head.
"Loki is no fool though, he will soon learn of our presence here."
"And so we are staying here for safety because?" Jane asks Thor. He looks over to her. "If Loki isn't afraid to do damage then we aren't safe anywhere."
"Loki isn't our only problem here," Steve cuts in. "We have a whole other person who we do not know in on this. For all we know he could be watching us now."
"Jarvis, shades!" Tony says casually and the shades go down the windows. Steve rolls his eyes.
"So, what do we propose our next course of action be?" Clint asks and crosses his arms. Nobody answered for a good amount of time. Tony sighed and stood up.
"Great brainstorming session, but I have things to do so ciao."
"No Tony-" Bruce said but stopped. Pepper stood up and followed Tony towards the bar area and towards the back area out of earshot of the rest. Tony sat down in a chair and sighed. Pepper hated seeing him like this. She knew everything has been hard on him a lot lately. Pepper slowly approached him and she sat down in his lap. She didn't speak or make eye contact with him. She just wrapped an arm around his shoulder and ran her fingers through his hair.
"You should consider talking to someone." Pepper says softly. Tony looked at her and frowned.
"I talk to you all the time."
Pepper shook her head, "I know you talk to me all the time, what I mean is about you not being able to sleep… and see if you can find a solution or a way to help you sleep better."
Tony shook his head.
"I'll just take a sleeping pill."
Pepper raised her eyebrows and said, "You've tried that. Tony, look at me," she demands. Tony looks up into her eyes. "You are exhausted. I know I comfort you when you wake up in the middle of the night, but I can't tell you how to make it better or why it keeps happening."
"I can't trust anybody but you," Tony sighs and looks away. "Hundreds of people want to get after me or want to kill me. Aside from you, I never know who to trust."
Pepper can see she is not getting anywhere with this, so she just leans forward and kisses his temple. Tony wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her closer.
"I just hate seeing you like this."
Tony's hand slowly found its way to her abdomen and he kept his hand there. A small smile creeps onto his face and Pepper's hand covers his.
Back in the living area, everyone was puzzled as to Tony's behavior.
"Maybe all of this is getting to him," Bruce suggests. Steve shrugs. "He doesn't come from this life. He never wished to be a part of any of this."
"What do you mean?" Clint asks. Bruce settles onto the couch where Tony had been sitting before.
"Natasha, your whole life you've had your skill set. Clint, same with you, and you both chose to become SHIELD agents. Steve, enlisting in the army to fight in World War II was your main passion and you did everything to get you there. Thor, you were born a king and chose to take the throne after your father. My point is, you all chose this style of life."
"But Tony chose to be Iron Man after he was kidnapped." Clint points out.
"But he didn't chose to be a part of SHIELD. Yes he is Iron Man when the world needs him, but it is not his only priority." Bruce says back.
"I see what Bruce is saying," Natasha sighs and they all look at her. "Ever since he told the world he is Iron Man Fury has been a constant push on him. Tony's always been his own boss and fights for what he believes is right."
"And he and Pepper are expecting. Besides you, Thor, out of all of us Tony really is the only one who has a life outside of what we do. He doesn't have to hide."
Steve sighed because Bruce had a point.
"Why are you so damn wise?" Steve said with another sigh at the end. Betty smiled.
"He's always been like that."
"How far along is Pepper?" Steve asks. Bruce does the math in his head and thinks about it.
"Three months close to four."
"So then we can count on him demanding to be with Pepper rather than help us." Steve mumbles.
"Steve!" Natasha snaps.
"Sorry, force of habit." Steve says with a genuine apology.
"I'm sure Stark will work through this and help us when we need him." Clint reassures. Thor nods.
"I do feel like Jane has a point though, this building while it may be safe is the biggest target in New York. They will get to us no problem." Thor states.
Clint and Natasha nod in agreement.
"And where do you propose we all go?" Betty asks. Thor begins to pace around while the others try and think of a hiding spot. "And will this Fury guy be able to find us?"
Clint rolled his eyes. For a moment they had forgotten about Fury as well. "If we don't all travel together and be obvious about it then no. I have no doubt in my mind he has agents stationed around this building."
Natasha nods in agreement. "Great thing about this life." She says sarcastically. Clint chuckles a little bit.
"In your realm, where is it least populated?" Thor asks. Everybody pauses to think and surprisingly Jane and Steve reply with the same thought.
"Montana."
Bruce smiles. "Well, out of the states I'd say that is less populated than the rest, but there must be other places with very few people."
"I was thinking about Pepper actually," Jane says. The men looked puzzled so Jane clarifies. "If you want Mr. Stark to help you he'll want Pepper with him so he can also protect her, which means he isn't taking her into the Artic Circle while she is pregnant."
Betty nods in agreement. "That's true. There are several factors you need to consider about this move when it comes to pregnancy."
Clint and Steve groaned and that made Natasha smile. Clearly they weren't up to date on pregnancy things.
"Such as?" Thor asks with a serious face unlike Clint and Steve.
"Well," Betty begins and purses her lips to think about how to phrase things. "We can't be completely cut off from society because if something suddenly goes wrong and she needs medical attention you won't find much help within a fifty mile radius in some places."
"Plus hormones!" Jane says. Betty nods her head fast.
"Oh yes, she's around the time where hormones kick in so there will be certain foods she wants, certain drinks, certain everything."
"Pregnant women are not the Queens of England!" Clint says. Betty shrugged.
"We're just saying."
"Alright," Bruce says and begins looking around. Everybody looks at him with strange looks. "We need a map of some sort."
"Nothing's been the same since New York… You experience things… and then they're over. I can't sleep and when I do I have nightmares. Honestly, there are one hundred people who want to kill me. I hope I can protect the one thing I can't live without…" This is from the Iron Man 3 trailer! While it looks amazing if they dare split up Pepper and Tony I'm never watching another Marvel film. I'm tired of tragedies! No more I say!
