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Chapter 10

Pepper darted inside, her hands shaking and the two men followed her in. They had no way of protecting themselves. There was nothing they could do. Pepper took off her suit jacket and beat at the flames, trying to get the fire off of him and the metal to cool down, but she eventually just gritted her teeth, wrapped the jacket around her hands and picked him up by one flaming arm.

The jacket didn't help much, and neither did the two men, but they managed to drag him sideways out of the room and run down the eight flights of stairs to level 100. They laid him on the floor. Fully clad in his iron man suit, Tony Stark was still on fire and all the beating in the world wouldn't stop it.

Finally, someone offered up a cup of coffee. It was a last resort. If they poured water on the suit it could short circuit and shock Tony to death, but it was either that or him being burned alive. Pepper poured the coffee on and grimaced, but nothing happened, the flames just died a bit.

It took sixteen more cups of coffee before the fire died. Pepper's hands were hurting so badly that she was scared to look at them, but there was one last thing she needed to do. They had to get the armor off. The release switches were on either of his sides and at his knee joint. Pepper pushed down as hard as she could and the hatch clicked, but she had to keep holding it until someone else hit the other release button. Pepper's face dripped with sweat and her hands burned, but the armor slid off and Pepper was finally able to breathe again.

Tony Stark had prepared himself for a fire, and Pepper almost broke down crying when she saw that his only obvious damage was a scratch down the side of his face. He had a pulse, thank God, and thanks to his fire-proof suit lining he wasn't burned.

Their biggest problem? They couldn't get him to wake up. Slap after slap was to no avail. Most of the office was of the opinion that it was because of his smoke inhalation. Finally, after ten minutes of trying to wake him without a response, there was a decided agreement.

"He needs to go to the hospital." Said Jordan Landett from accounting, "He needs oxygen and that's something we can't give him."

"He can't go to the hospital," said Pepper, not caring about hiding her tears anymore, "He…"

And then she remembered. Remembered something very special about Tony Stark that most people didn't know.

"This stays here, you understand?" Pepper said as she unzipped his suit. And there it was, the arc implant. The thing that was keeping Tony Stark alive… and it wasn't glowing.

Pepper dashed into his office and rifled through his drawer. This was why she always told him to stay organized, so that in times of great need she would always know where to find things. He never heeded her warnings.

She finally found it: a small, white box the size of a Christmas ornament.

Pepper knelt on the floor next to Tony and, with the fearful eyes of everyone on the 100th floor, unscrewed the reactor and pulled it out. She had no way to tell if she was doing this right. She had learned from experience and she hoped her memory was doing her justice. Pepper plugged the reactor in and slammed it back into Tony's chest with the whack of her hand. She smiled at as it loaded and then slowly started to glow blue again.

She pulled out her blackberry and called the house. She really needed to change that answering machine, "I see you've made the choice to call me, wise choice, really, wise choice. Maybe if you call back later I won't ignore your call. Just…"

"Jarvis!"

"Can you do a full body scan of Tony through my blackberry?"

Jarvis seemed stumped and said curiously, "I'll try my best Ms. Potts."

Pepper waved it over him for ten seconds three separate times and finally Jarvis spoke again.

"Scan complete. Good job in installing the reactor, Ms. Potts. Tony should be awake in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…"

"What the hell are you all staring at me for?"

Pepper smiled what was probably the widest smile she'd shared with anyone in days.

"Peps? Why're you here? Am I in a hospital, cause you know I really don't like hospitals."
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Everyone was still staring at him.

"I'm not in a hospital. I'm in my office! What the hell is going on?"

He went to stand and promptly fell backward. Pepper wrapped an arm around him and steadied him.

"You crashed into the building in the suit. We had to carry you downstairs while you were still on fire and…"
Tony grabbed her hands and stared at them. They were an inflamed red color and had already started to peel. She could feel them burning under his touch. It was worse than her worst sunburn and Tony had seen the effects of that.

"Pepper… why'd you do that? Look at your hands." He seemed heartbroken, like her hands were all that were left of her, "This is all my fault again, isn't it. It always is."
She hugged him tight and smiled into his shoulder, "It was my choice to get involved with your insanity Mr. Stark, I really think that…" and then suddenly she realized where they were and that the entire room was acting as an audience, "…that we are out in public!"

It was at that moment, at the height of her emotions that the top of Stark Tower went into pieces and flew off into the air, to later be discovered in as many as thirteen different countries, Africa excluded and that Pepper, Tony and the rest of the crew that helped quench the fire were now standing on the top floor of Stark Tower.

There was a moment of shock where everyone just watched the pieces scatter into the wind and then Tony turned to Pepper and winked at her, "I guess it's time to rebuild again."

Har dee har har!:) Cheesy... I know, but doesn't everyone need a little fluff now and then? So, who do you think is doing all this... all the breaking buildings and such? Make your predictions now and let me know who you think! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I love you all!