Pepper was almost choking on her own emotions; the words on the pages in her hands couldn't be real, life with him wasn't that easy, it never had been and she'd always prayed it never would be.

He was Iron Man; he was a superhero for god's sake, just because his idiotic girlfriend called him on a whim to apologise for another stupid argument couldn't be the reason he lay in a coma. The tears she was holding back were going to force themselves free and she knew it, collapsing back into the pillows as her body started to sympathise, the bump was in as much distress as she was by the feel of it.

For all these weeks she'd wondered what exactly had happened, but now she knew the truth, after his text she'd tried to call him, partially to scold him for missing the meeting and partly just to tell him she loved him.

When he hadn't picked up she'd just assumed it was nothing, assumed he'd just missed her phone call and returned her attention to her meeting.

But it hadn't been, he'd been trying to answer her when he'd been attacked.

Finally letting her tears fall, Pepper pulled one of the pillows down into her arms, nuzzling into it to try and stem the water that was ruining her makeup, the cramps inside her sharpening into knives that were trying to tear her apart. It seemed like every time she let herself get emotional what was inside her joined in, personifying the pain.

In some ways, Pepper reasoned with herself, it would have so much more simple if the last thing she'd ever said to him was that she loved him, or that she would be there for him, or that he was the most amazing man in the world to her and that she'd always been so much more than his PA, and felt like so much more than just a friend to him, She'd loved him so much more than she'd ever told him.

But she hadn't, of course she hadn't. They'd been arguing before they'd parted ways and she'd done nothing but shout at him, Tony had made her cry when she'd turned to leave him to his work, marching off once he'd pulled his headphones back over his ears, taking no notice of her. All she could think in that moment was how much she hated him, hated his attitude to work and to her constant attempts to make him run his own business!

It had been one of those horrific moment when she'd toyed with the idea of leaving him, was it really worth this much pressure. "I never meant what I said….I didn't….I wouldn't ever leave you….I was angry at you and stressed and I didn't mean it." She whined, nuzzling into the pillow and closing her eyes, letting herself pretend for a moment it was him.

Before she could slip into her depression the door was gently pushed open, making the strawberry blonde jump almost off the bed in complete surprise.

"S-sorry!" Captain America looked almost completely ashamed of himself, tucking his hands behind his back as he looked up at her: "I didn't realise you were in here Mam, Miss Romanoff asked me to look for Mr Barton and she said he might be in here… he was supposed to deliver the report on Mr Stark's accident." Pepper noticed the intensity of his gaze as she wiped her eyes, accidently knocking the files to the floor. The SHIELD emblazoned papers spread across the carpet, almost spelling out the reason for her tears.

"I got it." She indicated the mess sadly: "He shouldn't be in here Steve; I don't know why he would be. These were on the cabinet…" She glanced around in curiosity, trying to distract herself from the pain in her stomach. The room was in the exact same state it usually was, minus a scattering of discarded underwear and paperwork, but if he had found his way in here then it would be exactly like it should be, that was his job after all: "If he was…" She announced to the room, looking around: "He'd have the sense to get out of her before I d-" Whatever she was about to say was lost in as the pains flared. Before she knew what was happening her vision almost went white again as her lower body started to burn, wrapping her arms tight around her stomach and whimpering in horror at the shock.

Usually these pains happened when nobody was looking! And the man in front of her looked almost as scared as she felt, without really thinking about it Pepper held both of her hands out to him, desperate for some help.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked awkwardly as he let her pull him onto the bed beside him, tightening her grip on his hands suddenly as the pains increased, trying to tear her apart from the inside again.

"M-mhm… It'll stop in a moment." She whimpered, almost collapsing onto him as she clung to his body, glad of the comforting hand he'd placed on her hair. They stayed like that for a while, Pepper struggling between pain and tears as her body refused to calm down.

The pains were more intense than anything else she'd ever felt, like something screaming inside her body as it tore her apart, it was only through sheer determination that she managed not to scream herself.

The blonde couldn't help but feel sorry for the woman holding onto him, since last night the other Avengers had been informed of Natasha, Clint and Bobbi's discovery. When he was younger, she and Stark would have had to have been married for that to have even been a possible thought in either of their heads. When he'd mentioned it to the others they'd looked ready to burst from how sweet the sentiment was, they'd been pulling almost the exact same expressions that Tony used to pull over him when he'd learnt something about the modern age.

But he and Tony were a completely different story.

Pepper had been away on a business trip when it happened.

A messy, boozy, lust filled accident that they really should have told her about, that night had never been one Steve had regretted, even the morning after when he'd woken up struggling to walk with Stark still collapsed on top of him.

From the moment they'd pulled away from each other Steve had been certain he'd just been used, somehow it hadn't really surprised him. He knew Tony's reputation and of course he'd fallen prey to it.

They'd never spoken of it since.

In all honesty Steve had almost been trying to avoid Tony, unable to get the feeling out of his mind every time he watched Tony with Pepper. He had been horrible the one time he'd wondered what it would be like without her.

Had he felt anything towards him or had it just been sex, and nothing more?

Now he'd never really know.

Apparently it was almost normal for a single woman to bring up her child on her own. Shaking his head a little he banished that thought, not liking the idea of Tony not waking up any more than the ginger he was hugging. There was nothing to prove that she even was really having a baby yet, apart from a few lewd reports form Clint about the sight of her in her underwear, and the outburst from yesterday when she'd been asked. Even if it wasn't a baby, she was defiantly having some sort of pains.

Steve had been about to say something when he'd detected the movement behind him, catching sight of the reason he was in the room and shooting him and irritated glare, obviously Clint had chosen the moment when he couldn't reprimand him for his stupidity.

"Steve…" Pepper's voice interrupted him as she pulled away a little, the confirmation from earlier just seemed to agree with what she'd been thinking for the past month, someone needed to know what was going on: "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course…" He couldn't exactly refuse her, especially when looking around would mean she'd catch sight of the other idiot in the room. Clint froze, listening in curiously.

Steadying herself the strawberry blonde pulled away properly, gazing into his eyes as she took a deep breath.

Pepper couldn't go on without telling anyone.

The pain was too much.