A/N: Single use of the f-word. Don't like, don't read.
Invincible Ironman
Chapter 04: Lightning never strikes twice
It was raining pretty heavily now.
In more ways than one, thought Pepper miserably as she hugged herself to keep the cold at bay.
She looked at the clock and noted that it had almost been an hour since Tony had gone.
She sighed.
I should go to him, she thought.
After all, it was only fair. The misunderstanding had been encouraged by her.
Coward.If only you'd told him what you'd meant instead of acting like such a... a child about it.
In spite of the fact that she felt like utter hell, Pepper couldn't suppress a tiny smile at that thought.
All that time with Tony was definitely taking its toll.
It hadn't even been a month and she'd let out her inner kid; at the drop of a hat.
Much like someone else I know, she mused wryly.
That does it, she thought. This calls for proactive action.
Time to pull up your socks, Ms Potts.
And she would; for whatever else she had done, Pepper had never shied away from taking responsibility for her actions.
Actions that recently had come to include behaving like an ass and intentionally hurting Tony.
She smiled suddenly.
She'd make it up to him. She'd make it up to him till he wouldn't be able to walk for two days.
She reapplied her makeup, grabbed a sweatshirt (knowing Tony, he'd probably be soaked) and a towel.
Pausing only to add her purse to the pile of things she was taking, Pepper hurried towards the elevator.
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The rain pelted down in big, fat drops; filling the air with phit-phit noises as they slapped onto the ground and Tony's back.
He could feel the icy cold trickle of water running down between his shoulder blades, but he kept on running.
Goddamn you Stark. Why'd you have to start sulking so far away from the damn hotel?
It was dark and windy; and the rain did nothing to improve visibility.
The hotel looked like a loose group of fuzzy lights in the distance.
Just you wait Potts, we are so having a talk about this.
His lungs were burning but he managed to choke out a laugh at that thought.
Tony Stark. CEO, Stark Industries. Ex-philanderer and Part-time Relationship Guru.
The hotel was getting closer.
He had almost reached the end of the walkway.
As it was, he was so engrossed in thoughts of Pepper that he never even saw it coming.
The first blow caught him smack on the jaw, sending him reeling backwards.
What the hell -
A thousand thoughts swimming in his mind., as he swung back on his feet.
Who are they? Who sent them? How did they know where we were?
The water got into his eyes, rendering visibility poor, and he was winded from all the running.
But he was Tony Stark, and Ironman suit or not, he was a force to reckon with.
As the figure loomed over him, he readied himself.
Not this time pal, he thought as he swung his fist.
He felt the punch connect home, and was going in for the kill when he felt himself slammed into a wall from his left.
Holy shit! There's two of them!
Tony wasn't even given a chance to launch his own counter attack when he felt something sharp at his throat.
"Just give us the money and no one gets hurt." said the man holding the knife.
Comprehension dawned.
Bloody hell. I can't believe this. I'm being mugged.
"Do you even know who I am?" snarled Tony, his anger rising dangerously fast.
"I don't care who you are, and no talking." said the first man.
"Fuc -", Tony's retort was cut off by a series of blows to his midsection and groin.
He amost fell, then grabbed the knife wielder by the ankle; and pulled him to the ground, knocking the knife away.
The two men struggled in the rain, as Tony tried to reach the knife.
Almost there, he thought as he felt his fingertips connect with the cold metal.
The moment was short lived as the second man beat him to it.
Tony felt himself being pulled back and being slammed into the wall again. Hard.
"Now just give us your damn money, man." panted the first man, flashing the knife he had managed to retrieve.
Tony's back and head were throbbing now and he couldn't see much because of the rain.
The knife tip dug into the hollow of his throat, causing a small well of blood.
"Give us the money or we're gonna mess you up man!" hissed the man insistently.
Find a way out of this mess Stark! You're a goddamned superhero for crying out loud!
His frenzied thoughts were abruptly cut off by another voice yelling.
"Touch him again and I will fucking kill you!"
And then suddenly Tony felt a short blinding pain and was knocked off his feet.
His vision cleared momentarily and he saw his attackers on the ground, one twitching in what he hoped was agonising pain and the other out cold.
That was when he looked up and saw Pepper.
His entire body hurt and his head felt dull and stupid.
He looked at Pepper again. Pepper?
The first thing he registered was that her hair was wet. Then coherence kicked in.
What did she - how did she - where - how?
"Taser?" he asked thickly.
"Taser." she affirmed before she hurried over to him and helped him up.
"Are you okay?" she asked, and he could hear the tension brimming in her voice.
He surveyed himself vaguely and murmured, "Not really," and hearing the catch in her voice amended it to, "But I'll live."
"Speaking of which, here's a tip for you Potts," - he gingerly flexed his fingers - "Never ever touch a guy who's getting an electric shock..."
"Anyway I'm fine. What're we going to do about them? he continued, seeing her shocked face.
Absently he leaned closer onto her and began smelling her hair; momentarily tuning out what she was saying.
Mmm. Lavender. No. Roses. No...
"- I'll take care of it. It can't go public, of course..." continued Pepper as she wrapped an arm around his waist and began making the required calls with her free hand.
Tony snorted. "Yes, I can see how that would work. 'Ironman gets kneed in the balls by mugger'. Very attractive..."
He saw her eyes widen at that remark and hastily added, "Relax, Potts. I think I can safely say that we can still have children."
The rest of the walk back featured a prominently grinning, limping Tony Stark; and a furiously blushing Pepper Potts.
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"I spoke to the conceirge. I briefed him on what to do. He's taken care of it. No publicity. All very low key." said Pepper.
She walked into the room and began dabbing at the cut in Tony's throat with iodine.
"Mmm. You smell nice... OW!"
Tony jerked his head back. "That hurts, Potts! I think I've suffered enough abuse for one day!"
"If you don't want it to hurt, hold still." said Pepper, as she caught hold of his neck again.
"If you want to fix it, there is the standard kiss-it-and-make-it-better school of thought, you know." he said, grinning wolfishly.
Pepper merely dabbed the iodine on with more force.
"Ow! Jesus, it was just a suggestion!", he yelped.
Pepper put down the iodine soaked cotton swab and looked at him.
"This isn't a joke you know. Those guys could've really hurt you." she said.
"But you saved me. My heroine!" said Tony, and buried his head into the crook of her shoulder in a spontaneous bear hug.
And promptly began to smell her hair.
Mmmm. Lavender.. No wait. It was roses. No...
"Tony! You need to think about some sort of counter measure to this. This was part of the reason why we had the fight earlier." said Pepper. She sat next to him on the bed and absently began tracing a ring around his arc reactor with her finger.
"Okay..okay.. I'l look into it." he said softly, and drew her towards him so she could snuggle into him.
They lay there for a while, enjoying the moment.
After a few minutes Tony broke the silence.
"Hmm. So what you're saying Potts, is that I need to find a live-in bodyguard for myself or something."
"Mm-hm." mumbled Pepper into his shoulder.
"Someone to basically kick ass when I can't."
"Mmm. Yes", she said sleepily.
Tony cocked an eye open and looked at her.
She was just beginning to drift off.
Tony smiled to himself, he really shouldn't.
Really shouldnt...
Aah, what the hell?
He cleared his throat ostentatiously.
Pepper opened her eyes drowsily. "Mm. What?"
Tony looked her square in the eye, his own eyes glinting mischeivously.
"So when're you moving in with me?
- fin -
A/N: FYI you're never supposed to touch someone who gets shocked because you can get shocked too. Which is what happens to Tony after the tasering of the bad guys. I don't know if it CAN happen with tasers, but bear with me. Artistic license and all that?
Anyhoo I've always wanted a fic where Pepper saves Tony. I mean actually saves Tony, not patches up injured Tony. So this was basically that finally spewed out on paper. Uh, word. Whatever. Hope ya like, I really needed to do that!
Get it out of my system y'know?
